Bonds of Time
by piggrabbit82
Summary: Harry's life is changed forever when he magically calls two strange yet powerful beings. Bonded and changed to the core by their knowledge and power, Harry picks up the pieces of his life, learns of hidden intentions, takes control, and learns to live. His bonded help him create the life he always wanted and lead him to the one he always needed.
1. Chapter 1: If Onlys

**A/N: **This is my first story and I'm currently looking for a Beta. Sorry for any mistakes you may find. Please don't yell at me if things sound strange or don't make sense. *looks around* Wanna a cookie?  
**Disclaimer:** All the characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I don't own the rights to the books and so forth. So go ahead and read while I go cry in the corner about the cruelty of it all.

* * *

The words "If only" always came easy for Harry Potter. If only the Dursleys would get off his back and stop treating him like a slave. If only he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. If only...things were different.

If only he had done things differently...maybe then the words "if only" wouldn't hurt so much.

Harry, who was laying down in his bed, pulled out the picture album he always kept under his pillow. Since the term had been over, Harry often looked at the pictures. Rather than soothe him of the anguish he always seemed to carry with him, those pictures reminded him of all the things that led him to this very moment.

"If only..," Harry whispered to himself.

Those words had grown to be the saddest words he had ever known in his life. They gave him a glimpse of what his life would have been like if things had been different. They lured him into thinking of what his world would have been like. And like a helpless child, he always fell for their trap. Imagination gave way to dreams and dreams gave way to waves and waves of pain as tears cascaded down his face. Always, he was left with an emptiness when reality made it's presence known. Every dream ended with him waking up.

Sighing, Harry shifted from his place on the bed into a sitting position. With his back to the wall and his knees pulled up to his chest, Harry stared at the album before slowly running his fingers across the cover. The album was small with a black cover. There were no markings, no embellishments, and no words. For a moment Harry felt a twinge of guilt. These pictures were physical representations of people he cared about. They were his most precious and loved out of all his possessions. And yet he had only been able to place them in a plain, almost ugly, album. He would set that right sometime soon.

Pushing away thoughts of buying a new album, Harry opened it for what must have been the 7th time that day. The first picture in the album was the one Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year. A beautiful woman with a small face and the most brilliant green eyes and a handsome man with quirky glasses were holding a small child and waving at the camera.

Harry ran a hand across the picture slowly. Closing his eyes he could almost see himself fussing as his parents held him trying to placate him into waving for the camera. And the first wave of pain ran through him. Inhaling deeply to calm himself, Harry whispered, "If only I could remember that day. If only it wasn't the last time we all took a picture. If only you hadn't left me..."

Turning the page, Harry looked at the next picture fondly. It was a picture of his parents, Sirius, and Remus when they were still in school. Remus had rummaged through some boxes of old things last summer and had found it. He had given it to him. Harry had thanked God many times that Peter Pettigrew had not been in the picture. Harry watched as the picture brought to life the 4 of them. His dad was blushing and wearing a goofy grin. His parents had just gotten together and they were holding hands. Sirius and Remus were making exaggerated movements of holding hands with each other and acting shy. Apparently the two were making fun of the new couple. His mother was laughing beside his dad. Sirius then made a motion towards the couple saying something Harry couldn't hear. Whatever he had said had set off Harry's mom, leaving Sirius running around Remus trying to get away from her. The scene ended with Harry's mom grabbing her wand and Sirius on the floor when the spell hit him. Harry's lips quirked upwards remembering Remus's reply when Harry had asked what the comment was. All he had said was, "Sirius broke the one rule Lily had given him." Harry had tried to get more information but Remus colored substantially saying that he would tell Harry more when he was a little older.

Harry's eyes clouded slightly remembering Remus saying, "when you are a little older." '_Would he get to be alive that long_,' he wondered. Looking back at the photo, he told the images, "If only I could have seen you all together like this."

Taking another deep breath, Harry continued to look through the album. Remus had given him other photos and Harry was very grateful. Leafing through the album, Harry stopped at the last picture in it.

Unable to stop himself, Harry let out a muffled sob. In the photo, Harry was playing with a huge black dog. Harry was smiling while the dog kept chasing him. Then Harry had fallen to the grass laughing as the big dog had proceeded to chase his own tail. Taking the opportunity, the dog pounced on Harry. Then the dog had transformed back into Sirius. Together they both laid down in the grass smiling at the camera.

Harry remembered that day. They had made sure no one was around and Remus had taken the picture. Choking back another sob, Harry bit his lip trying to keep the tears from falling. He spent several minutes trying to reign in his emotions. When he thought he finally was in control, Harry looked up from the album.

That's when he saw it. The mirror Sirius had given him. A wave of pain built and built while he stared at it, until finally he caved. Tears spilled from his eyes and he wept. Clamping his mouth shut so as not to make any noise, he wept again for what seemed like hours. After his shoulders no longer shook from the force it took to keep from making a sound, he reached out and grabbed the mirror. Pulling it close, he wrapped his arms around the album and the mirror. He sat like that for a long time. Moving to see

the picture again he whispered, "If only you had not died..."

* * *

Hours later, Harry was at his desk petting Hedwig. The episode, as Harry had taken to calling it, had passed and now he was just tired. Crying never really helped him but he found he couldn't help himself. "If only things were different, Hedwig," he said. "Then I could be different and better." Hedwig merely tilted her head to the side and stared back at Harry. Cooing lightly, she pecked his finger.

"Ah, you have a different opinion then, do you?" Harry chuckled. "Do think I would not have already done something to change things if it could have been done?" Hedwig hooted angrily at him. Startled, Harry's eyes widened and he moved his hand away from his snowy owl.

"I would have done something, believe me," Harry said, " it's just...I just...I don't know what to do...or how to do them."

Harry lay back on the chair he had been sitting on. He turned his head up towards the ceiling. "They think I can do anything. Since I survived that bloody bastard's curse as a child, everyone believes there is nothing I can't do. But I can't, Hedwig," He said in a hurried whisper.

With a huge sigh, he closed his eyes. The death of Sirius and the pressure of being the only one to be able to defeat the maniacal psychopath intent on destroying everything Harry loved had hit him very hard. At still a young age, he was exhausted and certainly looked it. He was so close to breaking down completely...to losing whatever shred of sanity he still possessed. Sirius had been his hope at a better life...at having a family. Now he was gone.

"They want me to do things I don't want to do," Harry finally said. "I want something else, something more than this pathetic excuse of a life that fate gave me."

Hedwig trilled softy. Harry opened his eyes and looked at her. "You think I should do something about that?" he asked her. Rather than make a sound, she ducked her head forward. Startled once more, Harry stared at is owl. Snowy white and beautiful, Hedwig had always been different than the other owls he suddenly realized. Owls, though trained to deliver mail, were always considered as pets and many of them acted the part. Hedwig, however, was different. Maybe he was biased since she was his and he loved her, but there was something about the way she looked at him.

"You know, this conversation would go more smoothly if you could talk somehow," he told her, "If only you could talk." Again she ducked her head. Harry laughed for the first time in a while. "Oh and how do you suppose we can make that happen?"

Hedwig fluttered her wings and pecked him lightly for his sarcasm. She moved from her perch on the desk and glided down onto the loose floor board that hid his school things. Using her claws, she scratched at the floor.

"You mean there is actually a way for us to talk," Harry asked incredulously. Hedwig merely hooted impatiently. Harry moved quickly towards her. "Okay okay," he said. He moved the loose floor board and looked at all his school belongings. "So what now?" he asked her.

With a wave of her head, Hedwig motioned towards the books. "A book huh? Okay...you wouldn't happen to know which one, would you?," he asked. Hedwig hooted and pecked him rather impatiently. "Aahh..," Harry let out while moving away.

"Hey take it easy," he said, "You have got to be patient with me, you know."

Picking up several books he thought might have the information he needed, he moved towards the desk. Hedwig followed him and settled down on her perch. Lifting one of her wings slightly, she ducked her head under it. "Oh so I'm going to do all the work and you're just going to go to sleep," he accused her. Ignoring him, she settled to sleep.

"Blimy. Not only am I talking to my owl but she also gave me homework," he murmured to himself. He took the first book from the pile and set about about reading. Two hours and 5 books later, Harry had found no mention of how to talk to owls or animals in general. He had tried looking up potions and spells but nothing came close to what he wanted. He had found out certain kinds of owls were indeed smarter and could be used as familiars rather than to send letters and packages as other common owls. "Well

no wonder she is impatient with me." he groaned at that piece of information, "she could be a familiar and here I am thinking she was just prettier than the rest of them."

He had also discovered that there was a spell to turn someone into a talking animal, which allowed for the person to communicate with other animals as well as humans. However the amount of magic required was significantly high and to top it off the original spell had been lost. Others had tried to create a new one but none came close. One of the books mentioned examples of witches and wizards making the attempt. Harry had found the story of a certain witch, who had wanted to keep tabs on her husband, very

amusing. Needless to say, she had turned into a pretty pink squirrel and had been chased by all the male squirrels in the vicinity. Upon reversing the spell she had ended up with a pink tail that could not be removed and she had the overwhelming urge to store acorns for the winter. '_Shame_,' Harry thought wistfully, '_It would have been a pretty useful spell._'

Lifting the next book from the pile he brought with him, he took a look at it and dropped it. It was the textbook for Hagrid's class. Covered in fur, the book looked harmless...that is until you tried to open it. Reaching for it again, Harry placed it in front of him. '_I remember you_,' he thought glumly. He began to stroke the spine like Hagrid had taught them. Thinking it was safe to open the book, Harry leafed through it while skimming the pages.

Almost at the end of the book and ready to give up, Harry stopped when he read "parseltongue." In the last chapter there were mentions of its background and how it came to be known. While interesting, Harry didn't really care at the moment. He skipped further down and found that there were spells that could give the castor the ability to understand animals for a limited amount of time. However, there were drawbacks to it. You could understand the animal but they wouldn't necessarily understand you. You wouldn't be speaking in their language like when someone speaks parseltongue. Some animals are intelligent enough to grasp some of what you say but not much.

Harry looked up at Hedwig and then back down at the book. "Yeah well try telling her that. I bet they never came across an owl like that. I swear she knows what I'm saying," he said.

He kept reading until he came across the spell he was suppose to cast. "Wandless magic needed to activate spell otherwise not effective...," Harry whispered. '_Damn_,' he swore mentally. "Due to wandless magic being needed," he continued to read, "not much progress was made to replicate the abilities of parseltongue."

Harry was about to close the book when he heard a small voice. _'Why dont you try? Go ahead. You never know until you try_,' it said. Looking around the small room, he saw no one. He waited a few more moments but he didn't hear anything else. _'Maybe it was in my head..._,' he thought. Turning back to look at the book, he shrugged and began practicing the words.

When he was finally confident that he knew the words, Harry closed his eyes to concentrate. Bringing up the power he always held back, he recited the spell.

_"Quid ego audio, audire me_

_Quod dictum est mihi"_

Pushing down his magic to a more stable state, Harry opened his eyes. He waited, but nothing happened. _Did it work_,' he wondered. He waited a little while longer and still nothing happened. Disappointed, he sighed. He turned to look at the clock on his desk. 'Its _already 4 in the morning. Ugh. Might as well get a few hours of sleep before the dursleys wake up and start their whining_,' he thought.

Stretching him arms as he stood up from the chair, tingles went up and down his legs unpleasantly. He had been sitting for a long time and his legs had fallen asleep. Moving towards his bed, he nearly tripped and hit the edge of the desk hard. Howling in pain, Harry grabbed his shin. Hedwig, who was awakened by the noise, hooted at him.

"sleeping..hush..."

"Sorry sorry. Didn't mean to wake you," Harry said as he limped to his bed. Suddenly he turned and looked at Hedwig. "Hedwig," he whispered. The owl on his desk didn't even move. "Hedwig," Harry said a little louder. She lifted her head and turned towards him. She puffed out her chest and started clicking her tongue at him.

"What part of sleeping don't you understand?" she told him. She then proceeded to go back to sleep after giving Harry what he figured was the owl equivalent of a glare.

Falling to his bed shocked, Harry just stared at his owl. He had done it. The spell had worked. He could hear her. After the shock had worn off, he smacked himself on the forehead. _'Of course. Why didn't I realize she had to be talking for me to understand it. Ah I can be slow sometimes_," he thought. When he was done telling himself how he could have missed that, he started smiling. He had done it. It had worked. He almost wanted to dance or something to celebrate. He had done it.

"_I told you_," the voice from earlier said. Startled from his thoughts, Harry quickly looked around. It took a moment for him to realize the voice had been in his head. Harry was about to ask who the voice belonged to because it certainly didn't belong to him, when he heard it again.

"_One of your if only's came true_," it told him. Confused, Harry thought back over the evening. Realization hit when he remembered telling Hedwig if only she could talk. "That was just one," he told the voice sadly.

"_For now. Its a start. Well done Harry, well done_," the voice congratulated him. Harry waited for more but the voice remained quiet. He tried talking to it again but received no reply. He knew he should be worried or scared of what having a voice that was not his in his head could mean. Voldermort was a good example of that. Harry closed his eyes. He didn't feel any fear or malice from the voice. He found he didn't mind the voice. That thought startled him a little. Harry finally decided he would wait and find

out what it was. Drifting off to sleep Harry heard the voice again. Gently it said, "_Goodnight kid. Well done..._"

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A/N: I realize the chapter is a little long and maybe a little uneventful but will pick up...I hope. I plan to make it a novel length story...however I don't have much patience so we shall see. Any reviews are welcomed, good (Woo!) or bad (*cringe*).


	2. Chapter 2: The Bind

**A/N: **So I was bored and there was nothing else to do besides write. I also had some ice-crem and I was suddenly inspired. Don't ask why since the chapter had nothing to do with ice-cream. Also, sorry in advance for any mistakes I made and such. Enjoy.  
**Disclaimer: **The characters all belong to J.K. Rowling. Its ok guys. I have my ice-cream to drown my sorrows so I should be good for another day.

* * *

It had been a week since that night. The voice had been strangely quiet. Harry had wondered often if he had just imagined it. That the voice had been some inner commentary on his part. While it had been a convincing explanation, Harry had dismissed the idea just as soon as he had thought it up. The voice hadn't been his. '_Besides_,' he said to himself, '_that voice had sounded different._' But then why hasn't he heard it since then? That could only mean...

"That's it Hedwig!" he suddenly said loudly, startling the owl. Hedwig hooted at Harry, reprimanding him for scaring her. "Oh sorry about that," he apologized, "but I have finally figured it out!"

Hedwig, who had been helping herself to Harry's breakfast, looked up and have him her full attention.

"I know what happened. After much abuse from Voldermort, dementors, and homework, I believe my mind has finally cracked. But not completely to where it has taken a permanent vacation and I blubber about anything. No no. Rather, I think I now have another voice in my head."

Hedwig made a noise that came out sounding like a mix of a sigh and a whistle. She then turned back to the food as if she expected much more out of him.

"Hey!" Harry said indignantly, "It could happen! I mean..I wasn't referring to something where the voice belongs to somebody real. More like it belonged to my subconscious or other. It stands to reason that after everything I could be completely bonkers."

Harry looked back at Hedwig. She was in the process of swallowing a piece of ham and didn't appear to be in any rush to finish. Harry huffed impatiently at her and said, "Well?"

Hedwig looked up again and began a series of angry clicks with her tongue. "Wait wait," Harry cried out quickly, "hold up. I need to perform the spell to understand you."

Hedwig ignored him and continued to click away angrily. _'Way to go Harry_,' he thought, '_Good job. Had to go and anger the owl._' Closing his eyes, he tried to shut out the sounds Hedwig was making. '_Okay relax_,' Harry told himself, _'you've done this before!_'

Letting go of his magic, he felt it flow outwards.

_"Quid ego audio, audire me_

_Quod dictum est mihi"_

Feeling the magic surge for a few seconds, Harry focused on calling it back into himself. Opening his eyes, he realized that Hedwig had stopped her angry sounds. Harry smiled slightly, honestly relieved that she was no longer angry with him.

"So you found out how to do it, did you? Good. It was about time," she trilled.

"Did you always know there was a way?" Harry asked her in awe. She ducked her head at him. Harry gaped at for a few minutes. _'How does she know so much..._' Harry thought to himself. Filled with so many questions, he momentarily forgot the reason he had cast the spell.

Gathering what was left of his wits, he finally let out, "Wow. There is so much I want to ask. But first, what did you just call me?" Harry tried to look like he was offended.

Hedwig let out a barking sound. "I thought you couldn't understand me," she said sounding amused. Harry let out a small laugh. "Okay, you caught me," he told the bird bashfully, "but I am sure you did call me something."

Letting out another barking sound, Hedwig motioned for Harry to go sit by her. Harry walked towards the chair in front of his desk and sat down. Clearly, the owl was now amused and Harry concluded that the barking sound he had heard her make was laughter.

"I called you foolish, you silly boy," Hedwig trilled. "I have known you for years now. I have watched you grow. No one has seen you the way I have. You are strong, Harry. Stronger than you know and far stronger than others would have you believe."

"What do you mean," Harry asked her, confused.

"Harry there is so much I want to tell you...that I must tell you. First, you are not...what was the word you used...bonkers. Second, and listen carefully because this is important, never ever huff at me, neno," Hedwig said slowly, stressing the importance of both points.

Harry laughed, but quickly sobered up when Hedwig gave him an angry hoot. "How do you know I'm not crazy," he asked her, his voice distant and unsure.

"You are my master," she said simply, "and my master is not crazy. My master is powerful,kind, strong, fair, and loyal." At the mention of what her master was, Hedwig puffed up with pride. However, a few seconds later she added, "though loyal to a fault."

"You mean to say that those I am loyal to are not worthy of my loyalty," Harry asked warily.

"Not unworthy...no," she hooted, "Dishonest." The word sounded as if she had to force it out. Looking down, Hedwig hooted softly, "I dislilke dishonest people. Loyalty should not be abused. You show loyalty, neno, that I can be proud of in my master. A loyalty I can reciprocate unconditionally."

Harry led out a small sigh and shut his eyes. Yes he knew that there were people who abused his kindness and his loyalty, it was not new to him. He had believed that being who he was, it was inevitable and had therefore resigned to it. And yet here was one, albiet an owl, who was proud of his loyalty and was loyal to him for a change. His heart stirred. He felt warm. He hadn't felt like that in a long time.

Sitting there for several moments, Harry finally whispered, "What does neno mean?"

"Neno means child in my language. That is what you are, silly boy. You may be my master, but you are also my child. And as such I shall do whatever you ask of me," she cooed at him. "However, I will have you know now that unless it is your wish, I shall take orders from no other,"

"But why take orders at all, Hedwig? You are so intelligent...why is that actually?

"Did you think me dumb, Harry," Hedwig hooted and pecked at his finger. "I am not your common owl, neno. Truth be told, it is you humans we find to be so slow." Ignoring Harry's "hey", she continued, "Many choose not to respond. We are quite proud and unless it is earned or deserved we will not tolerate much of a conversation."

Once again Harry was left awestruck. "And I have earned it?" he asked quietly. He waited patiently until he heard Hedwig coo, "Yes, neno."

"You more than earned it, neno, you deserve it. Rather," she trilled quickly, "you deserve more of me and if had not been for that old fool I would have given it to you."

'_Old fool_,' Harry thought. _'Humph, does she mean_..."Dumbledore," he whispered. Harry was unprepared for the string of what he only assumed were unpleasant words being clicked by Hedwig. _'I was right_,' he thought derisively, _'One for Harry_.'

"You don't like him, girl," Harry stated. It wasn't a question. He could tell.

"The man is a meddling fool. What he did...has done...I was brought to shame," she replied. Hedwig let her head fall. Harry had not expected that response. He was almost afraid to ask but the thought of someone causing her to feel like that...his hackles rose. Who would dare? "What did he do?"

Hedwig kept looking down. She was making no move to respond to his question. "What did he do, Hedwig?" he asked a little more forcefully.

Lifting her head, Hedwig hooted softly, "I am your familiar, Harry. Always have been. It was no mistake on Big man's part to buy me. The old man told him to. He knew what I was. And I was given to you."

'_Big man...Hagrid_,' he realized. _'My familiar..._' Harry shook his head. "Why?" he asked. "Even so, what was the point?"

"Don't you read your textbooks, neno?," Hedwig hooted reproachfully. "A familiar acts as a focus, a tool. They allow excess magic be dispersed into harmless energy, making it safer for a young one to practice magic without much harm. The witch or wizard becomes more accustomed to their magic so their need for their familiar lessens."

"Okay..," Harry said trying to process the information. "But Ron and Hermione don't have one," he pointed out.

"No and they wouldn't need one," the owl said. "A familiar allows the wizard to use their magic more efficiently to make that wizard more powerful than if he had learned without one. They also keep the wizard from using raw magic so that damage is kept at a minimum. Think Harry. You were always powerful. More so whenever you were not with me."

Harry thought about it. He was startled to realize it was true. Whenever he had been here at the Dursley's his always felt subdued. As though all the energy that burned through him while in Hogwarts was gone. All his cases of raw magic had been away from Hedwig. Harry looked back at his owl. She had kept him safe from imploding, he was sure. "You kept me safe, Hedwig," he said. "How does that bring shame?"

"I did take the excess magic to keep you safe...but I have failed you, neno," she hooted sadly.

"How?"

"A familiar turns the excess magic and turns it into energy. The magic is then returned to your core," she said softly.

Harry suddenly got a sinking feeling in his stomach. This was not going to go well. Taking his silence as permission to continue, Hedwig said, "I was prevented from giving you back your magic."

Harry knew there was more. "How were you prevented," he asked quietly.

"The old man. Before I was given I was spelled. I was to take your excess magic and keep it bottled inside until it was deemed necessary to give it away," she hooted with obvious disgust at the old man. "But it belongs to you! How could I as a familiar keep it from you! Such pain, neno."

Harry was stunned. Dumbledore had spelled his owl to take his magic and keep it from him. The sinking feeling turned into the beginning of a rather hot rage. "Why?" he asked, trying to keep his anger down.

"I don't know, neno," she hooted, "but there is more. Through the spell, I'm sure, he knows things...things I don't think he should know."

Harry, quite livid, was quick to agree with her on that one. Looking back at Hedwig, he grimaced. He knew there was more, but how much could he take before he exploded with rage.

Hedwig suddenly cooed sadly as if in pain. "I am not an ordinary familiar, master. I have other gifts...skills that would have helped you and kept you safe. I could have told you about black dog. Could have saved him..."

Harry went cold. "What," his voice breaking with pain.

"I have power, master," she trilled, "Power that should be yours to command. You are not the one that should have done something, neno. I should have done more...been better." With that said, Hedwig began to shrill in what looked to be grief.

Harry felt her pain all too well. How many times had he thought the same. Felt as if the blame had been his. But he needed to know...

"Why weren't you?" he asked. He knew he sounded like he was accusing her, but he had to know.

"Sometime after forming the familiar bond, I was visited by old man. He knew I was different than others. Knew I had gifts. He cast a spell. Said I was dangerous. Nonsense. I would never hurt my master. I fought the bind he placed. I fought...but I lost. He bound my gifts away. Took from me what I could have given you. Black dog...family...wanted to save him. I couldn't do anything. It hurt too much to feel master's sadness. Know my shame, neno." Hedwig shrilled again.

Harry saw her. Waves and waves of pain hit him. He felt her pain. Her sadness. Her shame, as she called it, was that she had failed to give him what he wanted and needed. But she hadn't failed. She had been forced. She had been bound against her will. Forced to betray herself as well as him. He had done nothing for her and she had been in pain. He had failed her. In his own shame, Harry saw red...

* * *

A/N: On a side note, I kinda need some reviews to see if the story is making sense. The beginning is important and I want to know that it isn't just blah. Please? I'll give you ice-cream. Oh and the next chapter has cookies. I just spotted them on my kitchen table. Dont you just love when food gives you ideas?


	3. Chapter 3: No cookies?

**Disclaimer: **The characters all belong to J.K. Rowling and all that stuff. Moving on...enjoy.

* * *

It filled him and flowed through him. Rage so hot, so red, that Harry lost what little control he already had. His hands closed into fists and his knuckles turned white at the force of it.

'_How dare he?' _The words raged repeatedly in his mind. He knew he had to calm himself. He had to stop the red heat that was threatening to envelope him. If he didn't do something now, he would implode. He knew the danger of having his magic thrown out from him in anger.

The veil of red that had clouded his eyes before started to clear. Thinking that he was tempering his anger, Harry made the mistake of looking back at Hedwig. She had quieted down but there was still an air of despair around her. Feeling as if it was going to suffocate him, Harry felt the need to run before he hurt her in his rage.

Harry felt his mind slipping as he ran out of his room, down the stairs, and out into the backyard. Once there, he fell as he felt the ground pulled out beneath him. In an instant his magic coiled tightly inside him. He felt the heat and the burning pain before his magic released and shot out of him. So much magic was thrown out towards the world. Harry lost his senses and all went black for a brief moment.

When the initial wave of magic was thrown out of him, he felt smaller and less intense waves follow suit. Resting on his knees, Harry struggled to keep from passing out. Soon his magic settled, though some was still seeping through his fingers.

"The bastard…the conniving manipulating…why? Why does everyone always do this to me? Is it so bloody easy to use me," Harry bit out harshly. His magic may have settled but his anger had not and with every thought about why he had been so angry, Harry didn't think it would anytime soon.

He couldn't stop thinking about Hedwig's confession that she could have saved Sirius. He could have lived. He could have been here, with him. '_With me..,_' Harry thought bitterly.

Looking down, Harry's hands fisted and pulled at the grass. Soon enough, he felt his magic begin to coil inside him again. He could think of nothing else. He didn't want to stop it. He couldn't seem to remember why he needed to.

Vaguely he heard, '_Stop Harry…please._'

"Why," Harry shouted. "Why should I do that? I don't want to," he yelled angrily.

At first he heard nothing. And then softly the voice said, '_You'll hurt yourself if you continue. I understand your anger, but doing this solves nothing. Does nothing but harm you.'_

"Don't tell me what to do. What does it matter if it hurts me? No one else has ever bothered to stop hurting me, so why must I?" Harry replied miserably, the words laced with anger.

Harry felt the magic coiling tightly and he let it. Letting his emotions run through him, he fed the growing ball of magic causing it to get so much bigger.

'_Please don't do this,'_ the voice pleaded with him.

Harry wasn't listening anymore. He knew he should stop himself but he couldn't bring himself to stop. His magic was filling him now. It was so close to surging like it had before.

'_STOP THIS NONSENSE,' _a different voice yelled in his head.

Harry, startled, let the magic uncoil instantly. This new voice was different than the one from before. The other one had been soft and pleading. This one was loud and deeper.

"Who are you? You are not the one from before," Harry asked warily.

'_Why,' _it asked, '_Are you ready to listen now or are you continue your temper tantrum?'_

Harry was stunned. This voice seemed to be angry with him. "It was not a tantrum," he growled out.

'_The first one was accidental and completely out of your control. However,' _it continued, '_the second surge was going to be your doing and as such was totally a tantrum.'_

Harry looked down at his knees. The voice was right. He had been about to have a huge temper tantrum. He had just been so angry and when the other voice had asked him not to do it, he had snapped. He hated when others told him what to do. Especially after all he learned today. He heaved a sigh and said quietly, "Could you really blame me?"

He then heard two completely different voices in his head. The voice he had heard first in his head said quietly, _'No, I wouldn't.'_ The second and louder voice practically yelled, _'Yes, you idiot!'_

Harry, speechless, merely sat there and waited. He didn't know what was going on anymore. Apparently, there were now two voices in his mind and had very different opinions on his actions. Harry closed his eyes, realizing he felt tired.

'_How could you blame him for it? He was angry and after everything he had every right to be,' _Voice A, as Harry had dubbed it, said angrily to Voice B.

'_Because he was being foolish. I am not stating he had no right to be angry. He did. Rather, I am simply stating that what he was about to do was stupid,' _Voice B calmly replied.

'_So you've never had a stupid tantrum before?' _Voice A countered.

'_You know I have. But it is not the tantrum I had a problem with. If he had raged and yelled and huffed until he was blue in the face I would have been all too happy to have joined him with a few choice words to call that old goat,' _said Voice B.

Harry couldn't help but smile at that. '_Old goat, huh? Well he does have the beard,' _Harry thought, recalling an image of Dumbledore with a long white beard.

'_My problem was that he was going to make his magic surge knowing full well he could have hurt himself,' _Voice B continued, "_He wasn't listening to you at all and acted like a total idiot attempting to harm himself!"_

Harry flushed at that. It was true, not point in denying it. He knew that making his magic surge like that was reckless and he could have placed himself in danger. Now that he was feeling much more calm, he recognized just how much of an idiot he had been.

'_Aw. I knew you cared about him,' _said Voice A with amusement, _'and you told me you didn't. Tsk tsk. What a liar.'_

'_Don't make me bite you,' _Voice B said back with no malice.

Harry was about to laugh, when he realized with a start that the voices were talking as if they were real people. He thought back to when Voice A had accused Voice B of having tantrum as well. And just now Voice B had told Voice A not to make him bite. '_Bite,' _he thought, _'as in reality and not in my mind.' _The voices that were currently having an "I will/ You won't" argument were real. Real people. Not his imagination or subconscious. Real…

Harry let out a laugh. He was not bonkers! "Hedwig was right," he said out loud. Thank God for small miracles.

The voices went silent at his exclamation. Harry suddenly felt quite lonely without their talking. He asked softly, "Who are you both? Obviously you are not figments of my mind."

'_Does it matter,' _Voice B asked him.

Harry thought about it. He found he didn't really care that there were real people attached to the voices he was hearing. "No," he said sincerely, "Just the same, though, I would like to know more about both of you."

There was no reply for a few minutes, until Voice B said, 'What _do you want to know?_'

Harry had so many questions for them. Like how they were talking to him and more importantly why. But he didn't want to dive right in and interrogate them just yet. "Well," he started hesitantly, "for starters how about your names? That is, unless you like being called Voice A and Voice B."

'_Well that depends,'_ Voice A said.

"On," Harry asked, dreading that maybe they had changed their mind on telling him who they were.

'_Who is A and who is B,' _Voice A continued, "I quite like the idea of being before B over here."

Harry laughed, relieved they hadn't changed their minds after all.

'_No. Absolutely not. You can't be A,' _Voice B said in a rush.

'_Why not,' _Voice A demanded_, 'Or if you prefer you could always be Thing 2?' _Voice A then laughed. It was high and melodious. Harry liked it. It was sweet and contagious.

'_Nope. Don't fancy being called Thing 2 either,' _Voice B said.

Voice A gasped then. Harry thought maybe there was something wrong until he heard, _'Don't tell me you want to be called Chocolate Thunda then?'_

For a moment Harry was confused. Then he remembered the muggle film "Cat in the Hat" and the way the Cat had introduced Thing 1 and Thing 2. _'So they are into muggle films,' _he thought temporarily. Harry burst out laughing then. Soon Voice A joined him. Voice B huffed and then joined them after a while.

Harry was about to ask them again for their names, when Voice B said, _'Not now, Harry. First, you must disperse your magic.'_

Harry looked around. He could see the destruction his magic surge had done. He could also tell that his magic had settled comfortably around him, though that wouldn't last if he were to get up and move around. Magic tended to do things to its surroundings if lefts unattended. And with the amount of magic he had released, Harry couldn't risk leaving it around.

"I don't really know how to change it though," he told the voices. Scowling, Harry struggled to recall how to disperse his magic. Every time he used his magic to cast spells he called on his magic but other than the amount needed for his spell, the rest stayed inside. He didn't know how to turn lingering magic into energy and then dispersing it.

'_You are going to have to try, Harry,' _said Voice A, _'If you don't, Hedwig will have to do it. Remember the spell requires her to keep the magic rather than return it to you. Magic is not infinite. Your core is strong and will regenerate the magic you lose, but not all. It is why some children get familiars. I will tell you more later. Right now, you must do this.'_

"How," he asked.

'_Close your eyes. You will have to gather your magic together before you can change it,' _Voice A told him.

"Right. Okay…well how do you propose I gather my magic when I can't even see it," he asked them glumly.

'_Hmm…the way we gather our magic is rather different than how your kind does it. Uh…,' _Voice A started. Voice B snorted. _'Well do you have any ideas, Chocolate Thunda_,' Voice A asked, annoyed.

'_Okay let's try this. Harry imagine you have a vacuum. You do know what a vacuum is right?' _Voice B said. Harry silently nodded.

Harry waited for Voice B to continue but he said nothing. It occurred to him that Voice B couldn't see him and therefore didn't know Harry had nodded. "Yes, I do," he answered.

'_Okay. Imagine you have one and turn it on," _Voice B said immediately.

"Uh..," Harry said, confused. It was Voice A who snorted this time.

'_What Thing 2 means, Harry, is that like a vacuum sucks up the dirt, you need to do the same. So call the magic to you. Since the magic is yours, when it reaches you it will automatically go to your core. As this occurs, release the energy that is created by the change," _Voice A said.

That made more sense to Harry. Closing his eyes, Harry concentrated on calling the magic that had settled around him. It took a while before he sensed the magic shift. As it reached him, he felt it enter him and fill him. So focused was he on calling all the magic he forgot to release the energy he was creating.

As soon as the magic was gone, Harry got to his feet. He felt so energized and felt the need to burn it off. A lap around the block…or more could help right at this minute. He felt so restless, he didn't notice as he began to pace around the yard.

'_Well done,' _Voice A chirped, _'You did that right…well sort of. You need to remember to release the energy. For a first time, though, that was splendid.'_

Harry smiled. He stopped pacing and lifted his face. The sun warmed his skin and he loved the way that for this brief moment he was content. Unable to help himself, he lifted his arms and reached upwards to the sky.

'_What I would give to go flying,' _he thought_,' Feeling the way I do now, I could probably fly for hours before feeling exhausted.'_

Harry enjoyed the sun's warmth for a few more minutes before bringing his arms to his side. He felt a lot better now than he had earlier. Recalling all that happened, Harry knew his feeling of content would not last long.

"So," Harry said out loud, "what are your names?"

'_What? Didn't like Chocolate Thunda?' _teased Voice B.

"I meant your real names," he told them. Harry laughed.

"Who are you talking to, boy?"

Harry froze at the sound of that voice. He knew who this voice belonged to. Spinning around, Harry saw the entire Dursley family in front of him. Harry just stared as the trio looked around the yard. He heard his aunt go, "Look what he has done to my flowers!"

Vernon Dursley turned to face Harry. He proceeded to turn a deep shade of red…or was that purple. Harry couldn't quite decide.

"Now listen here, boy. How dare you destroy the yard and make a mess of things. Did you think it was not enough that we were forced to house, clothe, and feed you over the years that now you have to go and create this mess," Vernon bellowed.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon. It was an accident I swear," Harry let out meekly.

"You expect me to believe that is all it was? I am not dumb, boy. Now you will clean this yard until I say you can come back in. And no supper for you tonight," Vernon screamed.

'_Oi, what is his problem," _Voice B said loudly. Harry winced.

"What is wrong with you?" Vernon asked, noticing the wince.

"Nothing, sir." Harry looked down at his shoes.

'_I don't like him. How dare he? I ought a…oh he is so lucky I not there,' _Voice A said, '_He looks like a grape. That's how purple he looks. Harry squeeze him. Start with his head.'_

Harry was glad he was looking down. Or else his uncle would have noticed the smile that formed on his face.

'_No you are wrong,' _interrupted Voice B. Harry thought, thankfully, that there this voice was more mature than the other, until he heard, _'Start with the stomach. Clearly that is the roundest part of him.'_

Harry could no longer help himself and he let out a laugh. Vernon, thinking that the boy was laughing at him, began to shout, "Oh you think it's funny, do you? Well then you can sleep out here all night long. How do you like that? Now get to cleaning."

Knowing his uncle was very angry with him, Harry didn't want to antagonize him anymore. He looked up at his uncle and was about to agree.

'_No, Harry. Don't agree. This is why they treat you like this,'_ Voice A said firmly, 'They know you won't say anything and will take anything they do and tell you. Don't. Stand up for yourself.'

Harry was about to reply out loud when he realized that his uncle would get even more angry if he did. 'Can you hear me if I talk to you like this?' Harry mentally asked.

'_Yes,'_ came the reply from both voices.

'_Okay. Look, you don't understand. If I stand up for myself, they will kick me out and I need to say here. I am safe from Voldermort here due to a blessing sealed by blood…my mother's and now my aunt's,' _Harry told them quietly, '_Any form of mutiny will not be tolerated and I would be kicked out. Besides, I am not of age yet. If I try anything I will get into trouble like before. They know that.'_

'_Not if you don't use your wand,' _Voice B answered.

Harry thought about it for a while. It was tempting. To give as good as he got, and with magic no less, was a very tempting idea. In the end, however, Harry said, _'I can't. That would be an abuse of power. They wouldn't be able to defend themselves.'_

'_We aren't saying to abuse your power, Harry, just use it,' _Voice A said softly, _'The way they treat you is wrong. Besides, that whole blood thing is rather useless isn't it? Think about it. Voldermort still got your blood and possessed you. What good is it if it can't protect you?'_

Harry took some time to process that. It was true. For all the power the blood blessing had, Voldemort had still managed to hurt him and more. If it was about staying in a location that Voldemort couldn't access, why couldn't he stay at Hogwarts? The longer Harry thought about it, it made sense less and less. Then Harry had one thought that destroyed his belief in the blood blessing. _'Dumbledore told me about it.'_

Harry had just discovered that the old man had some very very bad secrets, and he wasn't stupid as to believe that there would not be more.

Vernon continued to watch Harry waiting for an answer. He had seen several emotions flicker through the boy's face and was startled to see one emotion at the end of it, determination. "Well what do you have to say," he yelled, uncertain of what was going on with the boy.

"I agree that I have made a mess, Uncle Vernon. The which I will clean up. However, if you think I will sleep out here all night you are sadly mistaken," Harry replied calmly. Harry had made his choice. He would no longer take this kind of abuse if it there was no reason to do so.

Momentarily caught unaware, Vernon was speechless. Petunia, upon hearing what Harry had said, strode up to her husband's side and cast a glare towards Harry. "How dare you talk back to him," she asked coldly.

"I apologized for the mess and I even said I would clean it up. However, I clearly said that it was an accident and I don't think I should be punished so severely for it," Harry replied to his aunt.

"And what are you going to do about it, you little freak," said Vernon, who had gotten over his shock. "We know that you can't use magic until you are of age and you're friends are not here to say anything on your behalf," he sneered.

Harry was very tempted to use magic to shut him up, but that would do little good for him in the long run. If only there was a way for him to understand why they hated him so much, to make them understand him. Another impossible if only.

'_Make them understand. Allow them to see as you have seen,'_ Voice A said quietly.

'_How,'_ Harry asked. He truly wanted them to understand him. He knew maybe that they would never love or accept him, but at least he wanted them to understand.

'_Close your eyes. In your head, say INTELLEGERE. Then allow the spell to take its course.'_

Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to go as far as to use magic. _'It won't harm them, right? It won't change who they are or make them act a certain way,' _he asked finally.

'_No, Harry. The spell will only allow the others to see as the castor has seen. It gives them the ability to see the intentions, emotions, and thoughts that are normally kept from others. It is a hard spell to cast as it requires the castor to share some of the more personal memories. Sometimes it does not work, but we will help you. Guide you,' _said Voice A, '_Will you let us?'_

'_Yes,' _Harry said. Harry took a deep sigh and closed his eyes. Calling his magic from inside himself, he concentrated on the words. _'Intellegere,' _he said mentally.

Harry heard the gasps from the Dursleys, before he felt the spell touch his mind. He recalled his most earliest memory, the one of his mother. Like always, Harry tried to shut it out of his mind to refrain from hearing his mother screaming.

'_Don't fight it. I know it hurts but hold on...'_ one of the voices whispered to him.

Harry, deciding to trust them, let the memory play. He heard a whimper from his Aunt Petunia. He knew she recognized her sister's voice. Opening his eyes, Harry saw tears falling from her eyes. He knew then that his aunt had never hated his mother. She had loved her little sister.

The next memory was pulled into focus for Harry. He had almost forgotten it. It was a memory of when he was 5. He had gone with his aunt to the store. There his aunt had met one of her friends. Harry had heard when the lady told her that she was looking a "little old" and should try out some new makeup. Harry, indignant, had nearly kicked the woman. Petunia had said her goodbyes and had continued walking. As she walked by the cosmetic section, Harry saw her look at her reflection. Harry had been sad and wanted to tell her she always looked pretty to him but didn't want her to get mad at him again. The memory began to fade.

Harry looked at his aunt then. She had a big smile. It was true. Whenever she smiled like that, he thought she was pretty. As he had gotten older and older, she had smiled less and less at him until not at all.

Another memory began to surface. It was of when Dudley and his gang of friends had begun to beat him up in school. Later that same day, Uncle Vernon had hurt his leg going down a flight of stairs. He had been in a very bad mood. Bruised and hurting, Harry had still decided to adjust the couch for him and had made several of his uncle's favorite snacks. He had set everything up so that when his uncle got home from the clinic, he could sit down and enjoy some television. When his uncle did get home he was quite happy to see the snacks and all but had attributed it all to the doings of Dudley. He had praised Dudley and had yelled at Harry for being so lazy. Dudley took the credit and Harry didn't say anything. His uncle was happy, so why ruin it.

Harry turned to look at his uncle. He had a nice shade of red tinting his cheeks. Vernon scowled back at him. Harry shrugged. He had doubted that his uncle would ever get over his dislike of him.

The next memory was of him during first year. He was looking at the mirror, wanting nothing more than to have his parents by his side. In the next moment, the memory shifted of him learning how his parents had died and that the true murderer was still alive. For a brief instant, Harry focused on when he took Buckbeak and had talked to Sirius before he had to escape.

Harry bit back a sob at remembering he had finally thought that he was going to have a godfather again and they could start rebuilding the broken pieces together.

More memories came to the front. Harry was not surprised when the memory of Voldemort killing Cedric showed. Then having to duel the maniac and watching as the souls of those he had killed came out of the wand. The memories began to fade, and Harry thought that maybe the spell was coming to an end. He was wrong.

He felt the memory before he saw it. It was when the dementors had come for him last summer. The Dursleys gasped. Dudley went pale.

He remembered thinking that maybe they would follow him if he ran and leave Dudley alone, but he saw that they were closing in on him. Harry had pulled out his wand and used his patronus to drive them away. He knew he would get into trouble. He knew that there would be consequences, but he hasn't cared. Dudley was his cousin and he would be damned if anyone tried to harm him. It didn't matter if they barely even liked each other. That was another story altogether.

Harry looked at Dudley, and was surprised. Dudley was crying but he was smiling right back at Harry. He heard his uncle coughed and was shocked once again when he saw his uncle looking at him with smile.

'_You sure that's a smile,' _said one of the voices. _'Don't know,'_ said the other,_ 'looked more like he's constipated.'_

Harry knew it looked odd but that was a smile forming on his uncle's face. He began to smile, but it faltered when a new memory came into view. It was of Sirius. Harry held his breath as the memory played out. He watched as Bellatrix sent Sirius through the veil. Harry broke then. He couldn't take anymore. He began to sob. Sirius had died. So lost in his thoughts, Harry didn't even feel the spell slip away from his mind.

Through his tears, he saw his aunt run towards him. Harry was unprepared for when she reached him. She threw her arms around him saying something that sounded like sorry. Dudley didn't run, but he too came towards him and stood to his right. Harry held his aunt back and cried. He didn't hear his uncle move, but he felt him lay a hand on his left shoulder.

After some time, Harry calmed down. Uncle Vernon coughed and walked back into the house. His aunt pulled back to wipe the tears away from Harry's face and then from her own.

"I think we all need to have a nice long talk," she said, "Anybody up for some cookies?"

'_Us,' _said the voices. Harry smiled. "I am," he said. Dudley nodded at his mom. Petunia then said, "I have to go to the store then. Boys come with me."

"Actually, Aunt Petunia, I want to clean up here," Harry said to her. His aunt nodded and smiled. She motioned for Dudley to follow her and walked away towards the house. Dudley was about to walk away but he turned to face Harry abruptly sticking out his hand. Harry looked at it and then back at his cousin's face. Gladly, Harry shook it. Dudley then ran towards the house.

"What just happened," he asked breathlessly.

'_They understood. Gah people really need to learn how to communicate with each other,' _Voice B said exasperated.

'_It's called talking honestly with each other,' _Voice A said, '_Humans rarely do it.'_

"Wow," Harry whispered. He knew he would have to ask them later what was meant by "human," but right now he was just overwhelmed. "Tell me," he said at last, "What are your names?"

'_My name is Kyi," _Voice A said, "_And Chocolate Thunda over here is Kai."_

"Kyi and Kai, huh," Harry said. "Nice to meet you."

Harry made quick work out of fixing up the yard. Turns out the damage had been mostly superficial. In the end, he had replanted the flowers, fixed up the chairs, and swept the leaves and dirt away from the door.

After he was done, Harry headed into house and washed up. He walked up the stairs and into his room. Hedwig looked at him, indicating that she had been waiting for him to return. Harry moved towards his bed and sat down. He looked down at his hands not knowing where to start.

"Hedwig…I'm sorry. For a lot of things," Harry said. Looking up at her, he continued, "It was never your fault, girl. Because of that bind, you couldn't have done anything even if you wanted. The one to blame is not yourself. Rather, I am to blame for some of it."

When it looked like Hedwig was going to interrupt, Harry quickly said, "I should have known and done something for you. And for that I am sorry. I am also sorry for walking out on you earlier."

Hedwig said nothing and continued to watch him.

"I know that who holds most of the blame for what was done to you was Dumbledore, but I was foolish enough to go into the Ministry without calling Sirius first so understand that I am partly to blame," Harry finished.

Hedwig flew towards Harry and perched on his lap. She trilled softly and moved into Harry's hand when he reached out to pet her.

Thinking that maybe the spell to understand her had stopped working, Harry was about to cast it again. Before he could, she trilled again. This time he heard her say, "You took too long to get back."

Laughing, Harry continued to pet her. After a while he frowned. "Hedwig, about the bind. I will try to find a way to undo it. Soon. I promise," Harry told her gently. Hedwig looked up at him and hooted, "I know. Thank you, neno."

Harry and Hedwig stayed like that for a while. It was only when Harry heard his aunt return that he moved. Hedwig returned to her perch on the desk and Harry made his way to the kitchen.

Harry walked into the kitchen and saw that his aunt was getting everything ready to make cookies. He hesitated before asking shyly, "May I help with anything?"

His aunt turned towards him and nodded. Smiling, Harry moved to help her. Dudley came in with the rest of the grocery bags. Soon, he too was helping. His uncle Vernon came into the kitchen saying that he wanted something to drink. As his aunt, Dudley, and he continued to work on the cookies, Harry stole a glance at his uncle. It looked like he was pouting. Harry smiled.

"Uncle Vernon, do you want to help me," Harry asked quietly.

His uncle coughed, but moved to help Harry. All of them then worked as a comfortable silence settled around them. _'This is not strange at all,'_ Harry thought to himself with amusement.

Pretty soon they were finished and were waiting for the cookies to bake. Rather than go to the living room, Dudley and his uncle had decided to stay in the kitchen with Petunia and Harry. Sitting around the table, Dudley began talking about how he wanted to join some boxing gym to get into shape and what not. The conversation started off rocky but after a few minutes, they had all joined in.

Harry was laughing and enjoying himself, when Kyi interrupted the conversation sounding alarmed.

'_Harry,' _she said quickly, _'They are coming.'_

Harry bristled instantly. _'Who is coming,'_ Harry asked.

'_Four wizards and one witch,' _Kai said softly, '_They are coming to check on you. It's safe to say the old goat knows about your magical surge.'_

Harry sighed. This was going to present a problem. He and the Dursleys were barely building a civil and friendly relationship. More wizards could jeopardize that. Bracing himself for the anger he was sure was coming Harry said, "People are coming."

The Dursleys turned to look at him.

"They are wizards. What happened earlier was an accident and they are probably coming to check on me to see if I am ok," Harry continued. Harry turned to look at his uncle. Rather than turning red, however, his uncle looked perplexed.

"Are you," he asked.

Harry, confused, replied, "Am I what?"

"Are you ok?" his uncle asked again. Looking around at their faces, Harry noticed they were concerned about him. Genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine," he replied, "Everything is going to be ok. I won't let them do anything to you all, I promise."

The Dursleys relaxed substantially after he said that. They all turned to smile at him. Harry was filled with so much emotion. Unable to help himself, Harry smiled right back. "Thank you," Harry told them suddenly.

They looked at him in confusion. Harry continued, "You might not realize it but the wizard community believes me to be some kind of hero, an idol of sorts. I always hated it. Although you all didn't always treat me well I can honestly say I am grateful you because you all taught me how to be stronger. You allowed me a reprieve from their expectations. Thank you," he told them quietly.

The Dursleys looked down for a little while remembering their treatment towards Harry. When they finally looked up at him, Dudley said to his parents, "We can do better right, mum and dad." Petunia and Vernon looked at their son and nodded. Turning to Harry, Petunia grabbed his hand. She said, "We'll all do better."

Harry, knowing they were being sincere, laughed in delight. The Dursley's joined him. They were still laughing when five people apparated into the kitchen. Turning, Harry recognized them. Tonks was on the far left. Next to her was Remus. To his right was Moody. And on the far right was none other than Snape. In front of them was old goat, Dumbledore.

They all stared at him and the Durleys. '_What a picture we must all make,' ' _Harry thought to himself. Not bothering to get off the chair, Harry addressed them with a simple "Hello."

Dumbledore took a step towards him. "Harry, my boy, how are you?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm fine, headmaster," he murmured.

Dumbledore took in the way Harry looked at him. Making a motion with his hand Dumbledore said, "We came here to discuss something with you."

Harry knew that wasn't true. He knew Dumbledore had came to check on why there had been a big magical surge. He also knew Dumbledore could not admit this without also admitting how he had known about it. In order to prevent himself from snorting at the old goat, Harry got up from his chair.

"What is it?" he asked.

Snape, who had been quiet the whole time, made a face. "You would show some respect, Potter." he said with disgust.

Vernon got out of his chair suddenly and walked up to Snape. "You would watch how you talk to my nephew, you bat," he spat out at Snape.

"Please let's calm down," Dumbledore began, "Let's not fight." Turning to face Vernon he said, "We are here to take young Harry with us for the remainder of the summer."

"Why?" Harry asked sadly. Things were starting to go well here. Why did they want to take him now?

Dumbledore looked momentarily unprepared for the sadness that Harry was expressing. Remus, who had watched the entire scene with fascination and confusion, stepped up to Harry. "Don't you want to go away from here, Harry?"

Harry knew that he was acting out of character and that they didn't know what had happened earlier. "I don't want to go," he told the werewolf.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, as if he were talking to a child, "Please go pack your bags. We must go soon."

Harry turned to face the Dursleys. They looked at him with a sad smile. He didn't want to go. "But we made cookies," Harry said suddenly, stalling for time.

Snape let out an exasperated sigh. "Potter, go and get your belonging so we can go," he said.

Harry looked back at the wizards and witch. He knew he would have to go with them, but he would drag it out as long as he could. Putting on his best puppy dog eyes and pout he asked, "So…no cookies?"

* * *

A/N: So I realize this chapter is longer than the first two but I couldn't stop writing. I was so encouraged by my first review that I had to continue. Many thanks to Elektra107! Now I'm going to bed.


	4. Chapter 4: Not Human

A/N: I'm so sorry I have not updated. Been busy. Had a recent birthday! I feel so old.  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything unfortunately. Except for Kyi and Kai. Those are mine. I am highly possesive of them. I kid. Enjoy.

* * *

Leaving the Dursley's home had never been a problem for Harry, but after the everything that had happened earlier that day it was very hard to do so. Had anyone told him anytime before that day he would miss the Dursleys, Harry would have said they desperately needed the ministrations of the healers at St. Mungos. But now…well he missed them.

So here he was, laying down in his bed in the Griffindor dorm, sulking. He knew he was acting childish, but he had been getting on with them and he had wished perhaps they could begin a different form of relationship. Why did the old goat choose then to bring him to Hogwarts?

Harry let out a sigh as he raised his arms to link his hands beneath his head. He looked around the room, silently giving thanks that no one was around to grill him about his day. Although, he supposed that would come later at dinner with the rest of the Hogwart's professors and staff.

He closed his eyes, remembering what had happened after the whole "Cookie problem" back at the Dursley home. Harry's lips twitched before lifting to form a smile.

Dumbledore had stared at Harry for some time before conceding that a few hours would be okay, as long as he would go with them without any more fuss. Harry had turned to the Dursleys and gave them a magnificent smile.

His aunt and cousin had returned his smile with one of their own. Even his uncle had grinned at him. They had gathered around the table once again and had begun having a conversation. Harry, sensing that the other five felt left out, had motioned for them to get closer.

With a glance at Remus, Harry introduced him to the Dursleys as his godfather and friend. The werewolf's eyes had glazed over and had smiled lightly. Harry knew that introducing him as such meant a lot to the older man, and he had meant what he said. Vernon had then looked Remus up and down before motioning for him to sit down. Remus had looked so surprised, Harry had to stifle a giggle.

After Harry had introduced the rest of the visitors, Tonks had come around towards Petunia. She had been in the process of changing her hair from her usual bright pink to a more natural shade, for fear that she might offend his aunt.

"Oh my," his aunt had exclaimed. Harry had tensed suddenly, wondering if the new relationship between his aunt and him would strain and break with the use of magic happening around her. He had not been prepared for when she reached out to grab Tonk's hand and say excitedly, "Can you teach me to do that too? I would like to try a different shade on my hair but I was always scared of what it would turn out to look like. Magic would make that irrelevant wouldn't it?"

Vernon had gone slack jawed and Dudley had snorted. After having gotten over her shock, Tonks had smiled and asked what color she would like on her hair. His aunt had thought about it before looking over at her husband, nephew, and son.

"I think you would look marvelous with honey colored brown," his uncle had said quietly while looking down. Harry had seen the man turn various shades of purple before, but the red that had covered his face and ears was entirely new. _'He loves her,'_ he thought. It wasn't a question, just fact.

His aunt had blushed slightly and smiled. "Honey colored brown, then," she said softly.

Not long after that, the cookies had been done baking. The entire kitchen had smelled of cookies. He had helped his aunt serve everyone. After settling down to eat and enjoy, the kitchen was suddenly filled with many voices and different conversations.

Dudley, his uncle, and Remus had begun discussing sports in the wizarding world, while Harry had to translate some of the more confusing references. His aunt had begun a conversation with Tonks and both women were enjoying themselves. Harry had wanted to know the topic of their conversation until they burst into giggles. He was sure, then, that he didn't want to go there.

The other three men were talking amongst themselves occasionally, but mostly they sat and watched. Harry had felt eyes on him while he talked, and had to stop himself from looking up. He knew Dumbles could look into his mind and Harry didn't want that. He wanted his secrets to remain his.

Kyi and Kai were his secrets, and he would not reveal them to anyone he didn't trust. He didn't trust the old goat. Not one bit.

Snape, who was still glaring at his uncle, had not taken a bite of his cookie. '_Maybe he only likes blood,'_ Harry had joked, thinking Snape really did resemble a bat. Taking his eyes off him for a few seconds, Harry glanced again at Snape only to notice the cookie was gone. It had only been a few seconds. It didn't look like he was eating it so Harry was a little curious as to where the cookie had gone.

Still thinking about the cookie, Harry had made his way up to his room to begin packing. Dudley had gone up to join him. They had enjoyed a small chat, before Remus had come to tell Harry they were leaving.

As he was about to leave, he had walked straight up to his aunt and had pulled her into a hug. He shook his uncle and cousin's hands before walking back to Remus. He waved and told them to write him when he felt the annoying pull apparating created. They had taken him to an unknown house, and then they had flood to Hogwarts.

Harry sighed when he remembered that now he was at Hogwarts. He had a nasty suspicion that things were going to get very complicated soon.

Harry was about to shift in his bed so that he could take a quick nap before having to show up for dinner. All the energy he had felt earlier was leaving him and he was starting to feel tired.

'_Harry,'_ whispered Kai, _'Hedwig is at the window. Let her in.'_

At the sound of Kai's voice, Harry lifted himself from the bed to glance at the window. Sure enough there was Hedwig and she was carrying mail.

Frowning, Harry walked towards the window. He wasn't expecting any mail any time soon. Once he reached the window, he unlatched it to let Hedwig in. Rather than wait until he took the letters from him, Hedwig flew to his bed and perched on the table beside it. She waited for him there.

Harry chuckled at Hedwig's behavior. It seemed that since he had talked to her, she was beginning to shed the "common owl" behavior from before. Harry briefly wondered if this was what she was really like all along. _'Yes,' _Harry answered to himself, _'She was always different.'_

As Harry moved to sit beside her, Hedwig moved to present him with the letters. Taking them from her, Harry was pleasantly surprised to see that it was from the Dursleys. He had sent a letter to them telling them that he was fine and safe and he would very much like it if they would write to him. He hadn't realized that they would have sent a reply. Or three.

Harry looked at the first letter and opened it. It was relatively short and messy.

_Hey cousin,  
Funny how I never thought I would ever say that to you or write it much less. But that is what you are. My cousin. I wanna say I'm sorry for everything. For beating you up and bullying you. I want to explain why I did it. I was always curious…and jealous of your life. I learned growing up that you were different and I was to treat you like I did. Not much of an excuse but all the same I didn't like you. I have only ever been cared for by my parents and no one else seems to really care. You…you had others that wanted to know you and they liked you. I know you might resent me for everything but I was a kid so please don't hate me. _

_Your cuz,  
Dudley_

_Ps. Thank you for saving my life. I owe you._

Harry stared at his cousin's letter. He loved how the word cousin was so easy to use now. He refolded the letter and moved on to the second one. Upon opening it, he noticed it was shorter but neater.

_Harry,_

_I was never much of an uncle and I don't know if I'll ever be. I never gave you much reason to share anything with me or to treat me as you have treated me. Thank you for those snacks so long ago. I didn't know it was you. I need you to know. I love your aunt. She seemed to hate everything magical and because I loved her I tried to do the same. To be honest, I was always curious. But as my curiousity grew so did my denial and tantrums until they had escalated. I'm sorry._

_Vernon_

Harry paused for a moment to think. This was the most his uncle had ever said with regards to his view of magic. Harry had always thought that his uncle had deeply detested magic, but it turns out it was a demonstration for his aunt. Harry didn't know whether to be in awe of how far his uncle had gone to try and make her happy or to be amused that the reason his uncle turned purple was for such a simple reason. Harry laughed out loud. _'He doesn't hate me,' _he thought, '_Oh will the wonders never cease.'_

Harry put away his uncle's letter to look at the third. It was from his aunt and from the looks of it, she had written plenty for him to read.

_Dear nephew,_

_I would like to apologize, but first I want to tell you the reasons behind my actions. It won't excuse anything I have done. I am simply hoping you can understand why I did it._

_Your mother and I were always very close as children. She was my dearest little sister and I loved her. We always did everything together. Then her Hogwart's letter came. I thought my father would have said no and I really wanted him to do so. I didn't want to lose Lily. But she was happy and so I was happy..for a while. She would tell us of what she had seen, what she could do, and what she had learned. Our parents were proud. I was upset. _

_You see, as a child, I thought like any child would. I found it unfair that she got to live such a life while I had to stand on the sidelines and learn about it from her. I grew to be very jealous of talented Lily. And very upset that everything I was jealous she had was taking her away from me. I did the only thing I could do to cope with my emotions. I learned how to hate her new life. Learned to hate the magic I secretly wanted to be able to do. _

_When Lily and her husband dies, all we were told was that they had been murdered. No one explained the significance of what had happened that night or that you had witnessed it all. When I saw and heard her as you did that night, I felt my heart break. My little sister died in such a way and I had hurt her son. You have had to live with everything by yourself. I am so sorry. So very sorry. Harry, I loved my sister, had always loved her. _

_I don't know if I shall ever really forgive myself for what I've put you through or if you would forgive me. Seeing you smile at me earlier gave me hope that you may. _

_There is another thing I want to tell you Harry, though I would have liked to have told you in person. I remember quite vividly the emotions you felt for your godfather. Not the one we met today but the other one. The one with the crazy eyes and goofy grin. The last memory shown to us was of his death and I saw what that did to you. What you must have thought while dealing with his death. _

_He was part of your family and losing that has probably made you think that you don't have anyone anymore. But you are wrong, Harry. We are here for you. We may never have acted like a family and we may not deserve your love, but we are here if you wish. _

_You still have family. And we will be here whenever you need us. _

_I have always cared for you, you know. I could never manage to get around my own jealousy and loss of your mother to ever let it show. But I saw it there in your eyes. I always saw your mom in you. Lily would have made a wonderful mother. I only wish she could have seen how you will be a wonderful man. _

_You are my nephew. You are a part of this family, now and forever. Come home whenever you wish. We will have cookies again. Or maybe brownies. It doesn't matter what we will be eating. As long as we are all eating together. _

_Your aunt,  
Petunia_

Harry read the letter once, then he reread it. His aunt had called him family. Harry's eyes misted over and felt the prickling of unshed tears. _'Family,' _he thought. His heart hurt. He still had family.

He knew that with their past, it would never be perfect but it didn't matter. He still had family.

Harry reread the last paragraph and could help himself but laughing delightedly at it. "Come home whenever you wish" she had wrote. Harry almost sobbed at the words. He had a home. Apart from Hogwarts, Harry had never had a place to call home. He always thought that with Sirius, they could make one. But he thought he had lost it all.

"Home," he whispered.

Another smile finding its way onto his face, Harry looked for paper and ink to reply to their letters. When he was finished he turned to give them to Hedwig, but stopped himself. She had just returned. _'She must feel exhausted,'_ he reasoned. There was no reason why he couldn't wait until tomorrow to send the letters off.

After he decided, he moved to put the letters away in his trunk. No one may be in the dorm, but he felt uncomfortable leaving them about for others to see. Tucking them safely away, Harry closed the lid to his trunk.

'_You should really think about trying to charm that thing locked,' _said Kyi to him, making him jump.

Harry looked at his trunk. He realized that he had been very careless with his things. While he didn't have a reason not to trust his dorm mates, they weren't the only ones to get inside. Ginny had done it during second year and Sirius during the third.

Who was to say that a certain old goat and headmaster would not do the same? Harry thought about putting a locking spell on the trunk, but he groaned before actually casting it. The spell Harry had thought about placing was strong. _'But not strong enough that Dumbles wouldn't be able to break it,'_ he thought miserably.

'_Silly Harry,'_ chorused both voices.

'_We have so much knowledge at our disposal,' _Kai said cheerfully, '_And we are more than happy to tell you anything you need...'_

'_So why not use us?' _Kyi finished.

Harry thought about it. "Yes," he said out loud, "you both seem to know an awful lot about what to do and say."

'_Then use us silly boy,' _Kai insisted.

"Okay then. Tell me, oh omniscient ones, what spell I could use to keep my possessions away from prying eyes," Harry said teasingly. Harry held his breath when both voices laughed. He had heard Kyi's laugh before, however it was still as mesmerizing as it had been then. Kai's laugh was deeper, though just as beautiful and just as contagious. Both of their laughter filled him with so much warmth and emotion, he was slightly dazed.

'_We are not omniscient, Harry,' _Kyi giggled_, 'but we come fairly close so I suppose we could overlook it.'_

Harry had just been making fun when he had said that, though he supposed if he was to have voices in his head, omniscient voices who knew a lot of things would be better than voices that didn't. He also discovered that having voices that knew things he didn't made him feel better. It only further confirmed they belonged to real people.

'_All jokes aside, you should spell lock the trunk now,' _Kai said after a while. _'Try this one,' _he continued, _'It is usually referred to a marking spell. You essentially coat the object with your magic so that only you may use it. Depending on the strength of the magic, the use can range from preventing others to use it to preventing others from even getting close to it. Seeing as to how you just want to lock it, a low amount of magic is required.'_

"And only I can use it? That sounds marvelous! How do I do this?" Harry asked.

'_You are going to bleed a little. But don't worry,' _Kyi assured him, '_There are no hidden intentions and it only calls for a drop of blood. It isn't dangerous at all.'_

'_Only to those that try to open it. Your blood and magic will allow no other to open it.' _Kai said.

"What happens to those that try," Harry asked hesitantly. He didn't want to severely hurt others by accident.

'_Depends on what they try to do to open it. If someone tries to physically try to open it, it will send a wave of magic forcing the person away. It wouldn't cause more than a few bruises,' _Kyi said, '_But should they try to use magic, it gets tricky.'_

'_Your magic will counter other forms of magic evenly,' _Kai continued_, 'A low level spell will be met with a low level counter and so forth. A high level spell could result in more severe injuries. However, your magic will first give a warning wave. If the other person attempts again, your magic will then meet it with the same amount of force.'_

"I see. So there should be no reason for someone to end up hurt since they would have already been warned. And if they are injured, it would have been due to their own foolishness and for wanting something that is not theirs," Harry concluded. This spell could prove to have many uses.

'_Yes,' _the voices said together.

A thought suddenly came to Harry. "Why isn't this spell used to prevent robberies and more? Is it illegal?" he asked, tensely.

Kyi's laugh made him relax instantly. _'No it's not,' _Kyi's voice said.

'_Though,' _Kai interrupted, '_Since it is blood magic, they might not allow its use. Good thing they don't know about it huh?'_

"How could they not know of a spell," Harry asked.

'_Because it was lost a long time ago,' _Kyi said simply.

'_Lost..,' _Harry said, not noticing slipping into talking with his mind, '_How did they manage to do that?'_

'_Easily,' _Kyi snorted. '_Humans are fickle and have a tendency to destroy things, the foremost being themselves .During the past magical wars, many things were lost.'_

The fact that Kyi had used the word "human" was not lost on Harry. He had begun to suspect that his voices belonged to real people who were NOT human. He wasn't sure but the probability that his suspicions were true was getting higher.

What Harry had almost missed, however, was the mention of past wars. _'Did someone teach it to you,' _he asked them.

'_No,' _came the reply.

That simple answer allowed Harry to uncover another piece of the mystery that surrounded his voices. If the spells were lost during the wars, then wouldn't it stand to reason that one either had to have been alive during it to know the spell or had learned it from another just as Harry was going to do. And since they didn't learn it from anybody…

"How old are you?" Harry asked them. Again he heard them laugh. Harry was relieved he hadn't seemed to offend them with the question and patiently waited for the answer.

'_Old enough that it's hard to keep count,' _Kai started. _'Yet young enough to still want to try,' _Kyi finished.

Harry gasped. That meant only one thing. His new friends were older than they had seemed at first. _'Well that takes care of the human question,' _he thought with a sigh.

"That's not an answer," he said, laughing. He didn't care if they were old or young, human or not. To him all that mattered was that they had given him a chance for so much and had asked for nothing in return. He liked them. They laughed right along with him.

Pushing away his thoughts on them, he moved to get a safety pin to poke his finger. After doing so Harry asked, "What now?"

'_Let a drop of blood fall on the object and say QUID TUA,' _answered Kyi.

Harry lifted his hand above the trunk and squeezed his finger with his other hand. After a drop of blood had fallen onto the trunk, he said, "Quid tua."

He watched as the blood that had fallen onto the trunk disappeared and a shiny barrier appeared around the trunk. Amazed, Harry reached forward to open the trunk. His hand met the barrier for a short moment before he felt a small hum. The barrier disappeared and he laid a hand on the lid. "Awesome," he breathed.

'_Woo!' _said the voices. Harry smiled and sat there for a little was pulled out of his reverie when he noticed how dark it had gotten outside. Doing a quick Tempus spell, Harry realized he was late for dinner. He reluctantly backed away from his trunk.

Dinner was going to be hell. The others had refrained from asking questions earlier due to the Dursleys being present. Now, they could go ahead and ask anything they wanted. Harry was not going to like the barrage of questions. Preparing for what he thought was going to be a torturous interrogation, Harry began making his way to the Great Hall.

'_You could always picture the old man turning into a white goat,'_ Kai offered, trying to calm him.

The idea was very amusing and allowed him to relax. _'Yes, I think I will,'_ he replied. Harry smiled.

* * *

A/N: so i know this chapter is short but I wanted to update for you guys. I am already working on the next chapter and it should be up later today.


	5. Chapter 5: Altais Tyl

A/N: I know this chapter could (and most likely is) riddled with many mistakes. As such I would like you to forgive me. I was just so excited to share this with you all.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Blah blah blah. On to the story.

* * *

If the doors had not been open, Harry would have stayed outside of the Great Hall for a long time in hopes of stalling the dinner he knew was coming. As his luck would have it, though, the doors were wide open and everyone was inside.

Harry knew he should just get it over with already. However, he could not help how his feet had slowed to an almost stop and felt like they weighed like a ton of bricks.

'_Gather your muchness, Harry,' _said Kyi, as she laughed at his behavior.

'_Muchness?' _thought Harry, '_What is muchness and how do you gather it?_' Before the voices could answer him, Harry realized the others had taken note of him. He made his way to the table and took a seat next to Remus.

"I didn't know you were going to be here," Harry told Remus, as he began to gather some food to place on his plate. The older man looked at Harry before glancing quickly at Dumbledore.

"I have asked Remus to come back and teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year," Dumbledore replied calmly, as if his answer had told Harry everything he needed to know.

Harry frowned as he realized that Dumbles always spoke like that to him, as if he were a child who needed to be told what he must do and when he must do it. Harry had always thought Dumbledore didn't tell him things because he thought Harry wouldn't understand or was not ready for it. Harry was beginning to see that perhaps it wasn't concern for his own well-being that Dumbles kept quiet.

"Oh I see. That would be awesome!" Harry said. He was excited that Remus was going to return to his old position as professor. He had missed older man.

"Yes it would be," Dumbledore said, "The children certainly need a competent professor if they want to pass the year."

Harry agreed completely. After last year's pink fiasco, he was sure the students were in need of a good teacher for what is coming. Even though he was excited, Harry knew there was another reason for Remus's return and he was sure it had to do with watching a certain black haired teen.

Mulling over his thoughts, Harry went about eating. He didn't want to talk to anyone who couldn't laugh like his new friends could. In fact, he was quite busy trying to keep from laughing as the voices would comment on anything he thought about.

Nevertheless, ten minutes into his meal and Harry felt the weight of all their stares. He lifted his head to look at them. Some of them had the decency to turn away when he did. Turning to face Remus, Harry saw the old werewolf looking at him with concern in his eyes.

"What's wrong," Harry asked him. He knew the questions were coming.

"Harry," Remus started hesitantly, "we were hoping you could tell us what happened earlier today. We know you and the Dursley have not always been on a very friendly relationship."

"Oh," said Harry noncommittally. He took a few more bites of his food. The others fidgeted in their seats.

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore said, "We are concerned that something happened today. Please tell us what occurred."

Harry placed his fork down. Everyone else had heard Dumbledore say that he was concerned about him and therefore wanted to know what had happened. Harry heard that he wanted to know what had happened and was going to cleverly manipulate Harry into telling him.

Harry recalled all he had learned about Dumbles. Harry nearly growled in his anger. Suddenly, he felt a blanket of calm wash over him.

'_Is that you doing that,' _Harry asked his voices. He heard a humming coming from them. Taking it as a yes, Harry took a deep breath and put a smile on his face.

"Something amazing happened," he said enthusiastically, "My family and I had a revelation of sorts and well we came to a mutual understanding. That's all."

Everyone was shocked at how happy the boy seemed and were quite relieved that nothing bad had occurred. Everyone…except a few. Remus knew that Harry's past with the Dursleys was quite horrid and didn't quite believe that one afternoon could have changed that.

"What kind of revelation, Harry," Remus asked.

"No one is as they seem," Harry replied calmly. He knew he was being cryptic but his message was heard loud and clear when he saw Dumbles shift in his seat. As he returned to his meal, it became apparent to everyone that that was all Harry was going to tell them about the subject. They all returned to their meals as well.

Harry lifted his gaze and studied everyone's faces. When his eyes came across Dumbledore's, Harry nearly gasped. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly and Harry found he could not look away. Harry felt something in touch his mind, lingering in search of something.

'_He is using Legilimens on me,' _Harry recognized with fear and anger. He briefly wondered how often the headmaster had done that to him before. Suddenly, Dumbledore started to probe his mind.

'_No!' _growled his voices. Harry had never heard them so angry before. He saw as Dumbledore's eyes widened and then turned away. Harry, noting that he was free, bent his head downwards. He thought about what had just happened. Dumbles had been pushed from his mind the moment his voices had called out.

'_Did you,' _he thought softly. He felt, rather than heard, the humming sound again. It was like a very pleasant vibration that flowed through him. They had been angry at Dumble's intrusion and he was very happy they had managed to push him out. He would get to the how later.

What mattered now was that the old goat had tried to search his mind. Harry wanted very much to return the favor to know what went on in that head and he wanted it to hurt. He knew that he shouldn't want to hurt another person, but when knowledge of what he had done to Hedwig crossed his mind he couldn't help himself.

Harry lifted his head and looked at Dumbledore. The old goat was talking to McGonagall like he hadn't just tried to get into Harry's head. The sight further enraged Harry.

'_Bah baah,' _the voices said suddenly.

Harry went momentarily still. He burst out laughing abruptly. Noticing that everyone else had stopped moving and were watching him with shock, Harry quickly made excuses. He got up from his seat and made his way out of the Great Hall. The voices set Harry off in another fit of giggles as they repeated the bleating sound.

Lost in his laughter, Harry didn't notice how the others became worried or how Dumbledore's eyes narrowed.

* * *

The only sounds in the corridors were of Harry's own footsteps. No one else was around. Harry slowed his pace and took comfort in the silence. Walking towards the window, Harry admired the night view.

'_The moon is lovely tonight, is she not?' _Kai asked him.

"Yes," Harry agreed, "Quite lovely." The crescent moon shone brightly and beautifully in the sky.

"Who are you talking to, Harry?"

Harry spun around to see Remus behind him. "No one," he said quickly, "Just myself."

The answer did not seem to relieve the werewolf. "What is lovely?" he asked Harry.

"Oh," Harry said. Turning around to look at the moon, he whispered, "The moon."

Remus moved to stand beside Harry by the window. He looked up at the moon and stared at it for some time before he said softly, "I don't see what you see."

Harry looked at the older man. He could understand why Remus didn't find the moon beautiful. How often he must have cursed it for what it did to him. Harry waited patiently for the werewolf to speak again.

"What really happened with the Dursleys, Harry?" Remus finally said. He was still staring at the moon.

"I told you," Harry replied, "We came to understand things about each other that made us want to let go of the past and move forward."

"Is that all," Remus asked, turning to look at Harry. Harry nodded.

Harry hated lying to the older man, but thought it best not to say anything for the moment. He cared about Remus a lot, but he was no longer sure who he was supposed to trust. He knew Remus cared about him but Harry was not sure Remus would take his side and not tell Dumbles everything.

Looking at the other man closer, Harry noticed how tired he looked. _'I wonder if he is having a hard time too,' _he thought.

"Remus," Harry said tentatively, "About what happened with Sirius.."

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Remus said quickly, interrupting Harry.

Harry nodded slowly. He was about to ask when the werewolf would be comfortable talking about it, but held his tongue. He turned to look at the moon again. He heard Remus shuffle his feet. He turned to find that the man was leaving.

"I need to go," Remus called out, without looking back at Harry.

Harry watched him go before he turned to look out the window. Harry thought talking about Sirius would have helped both of them find some closure. _'Maybe he isn't ready,_' he thought. The way Remus had acted still stung, though.

'_Don't blame him,' _Kyi told him quietly.

'_Besides, if you need to talk,' _Kai said, '_Are we not good enough?'_

Harry smiled at that. These voices in his head had been more understanding than others he had known for a long time. And they had listened. _'You both are more than enough,'_ he told them.

* * *

Harry woke up in his bed feeling well rested and happy. Suddenly thinking yesterday had been a dream, he jumped out of bed. He realized he was in the Griffindor dorm, in Hogwarts. Feeling such relief that it had not been a dream, Harry dropped to the cold floor.

He heard laughter coming from his voices. "Oh shut it," he said, "I'm just relieved, is all." He felt humming in response.

'_So what should I do, today?' _Harry mused. So many crossed his mind. He was quite partial to flying.

'_Why not go to that place nearby?' _Kyi offered_._

"_You mean Hogsmeade?" _Harry replied. He felt another hum.

He thought about it. It was against the rules to go without permission and after last night's events, he doubted Dumbles would consent. Then again…why did he have to know?

"Okay," he said happily. While getting ready, Harry thought about what he would like to do in Hogsmeade.

Once done, Harry walked over to his trunk. He pulled out his father's invisibility cloak and wrapped it around himself. He walked out of the tower looking forward to the rest of the day.

* * *

The moment Harry entered Hogsmeade, he realized he should have done something about his appearance. People turned to look at him and he felt the pressure of those stares.

Cutting into an alley, Harry leaned on the wall to avoid being stared at. Looking down at his feet, Harry saw pieces of what used to be mirror. He looked at his reflection with sullen eyes.

He knew what they saw. He could have been in the most ridiculous outfit and still they would look at only one thing. The one thing he hated most about his appearance. His scar. Always his scar.

'_Let us,' _whispered his voices. Harry didn't know what they meant but all the same he let them do what they wanted. He frowned as his reflection started to change. Instead of the messy black hair, he now sported shoulder length wavy brown hair. Hair that now covered his scar perfectly.

His eyes were still vibrant green but his glasses concealed them. It was not a drastic change but it would keep prying eyes away from him.

'_Could you do more, if you wanted,' _he silently asked them. He felt a hum in response. His voices were quite powerful, he concluded, if they could change his appearance without being there at all. All that power and yet they still asked him for permission. He felt touched that they took into account his feelings, as most people were likely to dismiss them.

Hesitantly and slowly, Harry emerged from his place in the alley. He began to walk around and noticed that the people were no longer staring. _'I could get used to this,'_ he mused. Feeling his confidence return, Harry's stride became more assured and poised.

Little by little, Harry lost track of time as he and his voices took in the shops and sights he had never paid attention to before. He had been here with his friends, but he always felt out of place and distant. Now, he felt eager and the feeling of being alone was gone.

He felt a twinge of guilt as he thought about how he sometimes felt lonely with his friends around. It didn't make them any less his friends or any less important in his life, but he could not deny that he felt better with his voices.

Kyi pulled him out of his thoughts when he heard his name being called. Looking up, Harry noticed a book shop.

'_You want to look at some books,' _he asked them. Harry liked books, not that anyone knew with his obvious distaste for his textbooks. He hated homework…but books were a different matter. He hardly had the time to read. If he had the time, he was sure he would have ended up like Hermione. With his nose always in a book.

'_Those are not normal books,'_ Kai said quickly, '_They are antiques. Ancient and usually contain very powerful spells. I'm surprised there are hardly any customers.'_

'_It could be that they don't know what those book actually are,' _Kyi drawled.

Harry looked closer at the bookshop. He gasped. The books being displayed in the window were beautiful. Obviously, they were very important, but he saw the not many people even glanced at them. Perhaps Kyi was right and they didn't know what the books actually were.

Harry moved towards the shop and walked in. There were books everywhere. He was in Hermione heaven. Each book was magnificent and drew Harry's eyes. _'Is there anything in particular you want to see,' _he asked his voices.

'_Maybe books on binds and such would be helpful,' _Kai suggested.

Harry stopped looking at the books and flinched. He had forgotten about Hedwig for a moment. He was a fool. Maybe there was a book that could help him remove the bind on Hedwig. Filled with determination, he made his way around the books scanning for the owner. When Harry found him in the far back area of his shops, he groaned.

The man had dark colored robes that seemed to make him an unusual shade of pale. The most hateful expression twisted his face and made Harry feel as if the man was not someone to be messed with. He had white hair that would have betrayed his age if it wasn't for the fact that his face was free of wrinkles.

'_Not everyone who is old,' _Kyi started. '_Looks old,' _Kai finished.

'_Are you saying he isn't what he seems, human-wise,' _Harry asked. He thought suddenly that the man could very well be something other than human.

'_He is human,' _Kai said, '_Keep your wits, Harry, he has his secrets.'_

Harry suddenly felt like he was going into battle and he didn't feel like he was going to make it out alive. His voices laughed at him. He was being cowardly. _'Come on Harry,' _he told himself, '_where is your lion?'_

Taking a deep breath, Harry moved to stand in front of the man. "I'm looking for some books. Could you help me," Harry asked, trying to sound calm.

The man looked him up and down, then sneered, "Oh but of course."

Harry didn't like the man's tone but shrugged it off. "I want some containing information on bindings, familiars, and anything with close relation to them," Harry said.

The man wasn't expecting that and his eyes widened for a moment. His lips curled into a nasty version of a smile before he said, "I have a few books with that type of information. Do look around while I get them."

Harry watched him disappear into a room behind the counter. He turned around and looked at all the books. He didn't know where to begin. He decided to start with the shelf closest to him.

Scanning the titles, he noticed that most of them sounded like Dark Arts. He didn't know what to think about it. He had always been told that the Dark Arts were evil and dark wizards were evil, but what about Dumbles? He was the leader of light and yet he had bound Hedwig and undoubtedly more. So what was true?

He supposed that with curses such as the Unforgivables the Dark Arts could be classified as evil. But they had also been used by light wizards and could grudgingly admit using them had saved some lives. He would have to use one to kill the maniac known as Voldemort and he knew doing so would save many lives.

'_It is not the magic that is evil,' _Kai said softly, '_it is how it is used that matters. Those same spells that most of your kind dub dark, could easily be changed slightly and used for good things.'_

'_But humans are fickle creatures. They want to label and blame others more than themselves,' _Kyi said sadly, '_The dark is no more evil than the night is. Again, it is how you use it that matters.'_

Harry thought about their words. They made a whole lot more sense than anything else he had been told. He knew that the world was covered in different shades of grey and not the black and white many people chose to believe. He realized he still had so much to learn, but no longer would he be the naïve boy that took everything at face value alone.

Harry continued scanning the titles until he came across a small book titled _Bonds of Life. _His voices hummed. Taking it as a sign that they wanted him to take the book, Harry pulled it out of the shelf. He would look at it later.

He kept looking a little while more, taking every book his voices hummed at from the shelves. He heard shuffling coming from the back of the shop and made his way there. The man had come back carrying three books.

Harry set the books he had gotten from the shelves on the counter. The man looked at the books and his eyes widened again.

"You sure seem to know which of the books here are the most valuable," the man accused him.

"Most valuable you say," Harry said quietly. He would not let the man intimidate him. He had faced more and worse than the man in front of him. "Does it matter," Harry asked him.

The man, baffled that the boy wasn't afraid of him, replied harshly, "Not if you can pay."

Harry had forgotten about payment. He was starting to panic when his voices sent a wave of calm through him.

'_Cast this spell,' _Kyi said quickly, '_Je vous dois.'_

Harry pulled out his wand. The other man moved back quickly as if expecting an attack. Harry raised his eyebrow and smiled at him, before casting the spell.

A small piece of paper holding the insignia of the Gringotts Wizarding Bank appeared on the counter. Harry picked it up and mentally asked, _'What's this?'_

'_It's an IOU bank note,' _Kai said, '_You can use it if you don't have any money on you. You simply write the amount you owe and the name of the person. You recast the same spell to send it back to the bank and they will take the gold from your vault and pay the debt.'_

Harry relaxed upon hearing that he now had a way to pay the man for the books. There were really a lot of things he needed to learn. He put his wand back into his pocket.

The man had also calmed when he had seen the note on the counter. It became clear to him that the boy had money and he knew better than to keep gold on him. He was unaware that Harry had just learned the spell.

"So how much will it be," Harry asked coolly, 'And don't dare try to overcharge me simply because you think I am just a boy."

The man in front of him flinched as if he had just been caught. His face twisted and he said, "It would be expensive. You sure you have the money."

Harry was annoyed with the man. "Name the price," he said edgily.

The man gave his price. Harry was about to ask the voices if that was okay when he felt the hums. Harry nodded at the man and began to write the sum on the bank note. "Name," Harry asked him.

"Riles Gimp," the man replied. Harry wrote the name down as well and was about to cast the spell when his voices growled.

'_What's wrong,' _he asked them.

'_He spelled the books,'_ Kai nearly screamed. Harry looked at the books again.

'_The books are very valuable,' _Kyi explained, '_And he doesn't want to part with them. He has spelled the books to return to him after he had acquired the money for the purchase. Conniving little..'_

Harry frowned. _'Any way to remove the spell,' _he asked, '_And isn't that illegal?'_

'_Yes it is,'_ Kai mused, '_I wonder what would happen if you told him you know.'_

Harry could tell where Kai had gone with that thought. Harry smiled and asked the man calmly, "Did you think you would get away with spelling the books, sir?"

The man seems caught off guard with Harry's question and began to nervously fidget. Harry saw this and with a glint in his eyes, he said mischievously, "Suppose I told someone about this habit of yours?"

With that said, the man stared at Harry. He licked his lips and his face twisted with another hateful expression. After a while, he got himself under control. With a tight jaw, he said, "Please don't tell anyone. I will remove the spells at once. You can have free reign of the store. Whatever you wish. For free."

Harry looked at the man. It had obviously taken a lot out of him to say that. Before he could stop himself, Harry asked the man why he had done it.

The man's face twisted for a moment and then he said softly, "They…those people outside…they don't appreciate the books in this place. I keep them in a good condition and I treasure them. But it doesn't pay well when they have no idea about their value. I barely sell any of the books and I need the money."

Harry looked at the man once more, before looking at his hands. The man's hands were calloused with small scars Harry could only assume were due to the pages. He turned his gaze to the books. They were really beautiful and this man had kept them that way. Harry smiled.

"Remove the spell," Harry started harshly before softening his voice, "And let me pay you."

The man was startled. He stared at Harry's smiling face. When he concluded that Harry was not lying, an actual smile appeared on his face. He went about removing the spells and placed them all in a bag before shrinking them. Harry cast the appropriate spell to send the note to the bank and took the small bag from Mr. Gimp.

He was about to turn away when Mr. Gimp coughed and said, "I always heard the rumors about what you were like, but never believed in them. You are nothing like those other boys your age. But then what can I expect from Harry Potter."

Harry nearly dropped his bag from shock. Before he could ask how the man knew, Riles Gimp pointed to the scar and said he had seen it when he had shifted his hair to the side. Harry frowned.

Mr. Gimp quickly shuffled his feet and moved his hands while saying, "Don't worry Mr. Potter, I won't say a word."

Harry nodded softly to the man and smiled. He was to walk away again when Harry stopped and looked at the man once more.

"Riles," Harry started softly, "The books are very beautiful. You have done a brilliant job. I shall come again." With that, Harry walked out of the shop. Riles Gimp watched him go and smiled.

Harry made his way to The Three Broomsticks for a quick lunch. No one paid him any mind and he preferred it that. After he finished his meal, Harry continued to look at shops. He spent some time looking at Honeydukes Sweetshop.

Harry was just strolling by most of the shops until one caught his eye. In the window there were several photo albums. Interest piqued, Harry entered the small shop.

"Hello sir. What would you like?" said a petite blond woman.

"I saw your photo albums and they were lovely. I've wanted to buy an album for a while now and so walked into your shop," Harry replied.

"Would you like to buy one already made or make one?" the woman asked him.

"I can make one?" asked Harry, excited. He loved the idea of making his own album. The woman nodded at him. "Then I want to do that," he said.

The woman motioned him over to a stall. In the stall there was a desk with a book on it. She told him that inside the book were various options to create his album and all he had to do was write down what he wanted on a piece of parchment. When he was done, he was to take it to her and she would create the album according to how he wanted it.

Harry nodded and sat down on the chair. He opened the book on the desk to the first page. It asked him what type of shape he wanted the album in. He browed the rest of the pages and saw several examples. He could choose the color, the texture, the amount of pages, any words, and so on.

After about an hour and a half, Harry had a parchment full of all he wanted for his album and gave it to the woman. His voices had helped him choose on several colors and more. His album would be very detailed. The woman took his parchment and began to create the album.

Harry watched, fascinated. The album was turning out just like he envisioned it. And the cover was breathtaking. There were swirls of a red, yellow, green, and blue. The sides of the pages were lined with silver tint and the inside was just as stunning. When it was done, the woman handed it to him for inspection.

Harry held the album and ran his hand over the cover. It was smooth and cool to the touch. He had a wonderful idea then. "Can an image be embossed onto the cover?" he asked the woman.

She made a small frown and apologized. "There are ways to emboss the image magically, however, I am not experienced enough to do it correctly."

Harry, not to be deterred, asked, "Is there another who can do it?"

The woman thought about it and then nodded happily at Harry. "There is a person called Altais Tyl, who can do beautiful things. His projects are amazing and his skills are sought after constantly."

Harry smiled. "Is there a way I can meet him?" he asked. The woman frowned at him again.

"Well you see," she began, "No one has ever met him and he only corresponds through mail. But I fear I must warn you sir that he only takes on certain projects and rejects many orders. You may not be able to get him to do it."

Harry sighed. "Is there anyone else that may do it then?"

"I am new to this work and don't know many people," she told him sadly.

"How do I get into contact with Mr. Tyl," Harry asked, "I may as well try and see."

The woman smiled and said, "No one seems to know the address. However, if you tell your owl to take a letter to Altais Tyl, they know where they are going. Rather mysterious and curious, isn't it?"

Harry agreed. He thanked the woman for the album and proceeded to cast for another bank note. He wrote the price the woman gave him.

When the woman gave him her name, his voices started laughing. He asked for her name again.

"It's Galinda, sir."

'_Ask her if she travels by bubble, Harry,' _Kyi said_. _Kai began to laugh again. It took a moment for Harry to understand what they were saying. _'You all are talking about the witch of the north from the movie Wizard of Oz, right,' _he asked them, trying not to laugh as well.

He felt their hums. Harry smiled and wrote the woman's name on the bank note. He cast the spell to send the note back to the bank while trying to mentally shush his voices after one of them said, _'Ooh ask her if we should follow the yellow brick road.'_

Galinda shrunk the album and handed it to Harry. He smiled to her in thanks and left the shop before he started laughing too.

Harry decided that he was done shopping and headed back towards Hogwarts. He made sure his voices had returned his hair to normal and wrapped the invisible cloak around himself. Today had been so much fun.

* * *

Harry was placing his things away in the trunk when he noticed the letters he still needed to send to the Dursleys. He grabbed them and placed them on the small desk next to his bed. He had another letter to write first.

Taking out some parchment, Harry began to write to Altais Tyl.

_To Altais Tyl,_

_My name is_

Harry stopped writing. He didn't want to reveal his real name to a man no one had ever met. That would present unnecessary worries. He tried to come up with alternative names but failed miserably.

'_Try Veles Taliesin,'_ Kyi offered. Harry liked the way it sounded. _'What does it mean?' _he asked.

'_Veles is the god of autumn, underworld, earth, waters, snakes, wolves, medicine, and magic,' _Kai said, '_And Taliesin is the god of poetry, wisdom, wizards, music, knowledge, and magic.'_

Harry was impressed. Both gods obviously had to do with magic and more. He decided to use the name and returned to writing his letter.

_My name is Veles Taliesin. I was informed that you are the one to ask for certain projects. I have recently made a photo album and would like to have an image embossed on the cover. The woman at the shop spoke highly of you and although she mentioned you may reject me, she knew of no other I could ask. And so it seems I have to trouble you. _

Harry paused. He found he hadn't settled on an image yet. Thinking about what he would like to emboss on the cover, the voices whispered, '_Trees.'_

'_Trees,' _Harry thought. A tree would look nice on the cover, he admitted. Though as to what kind of tree he was stumped. The voices giggled. _'Tell me what you guys are thinking then,' _he told them impatiently.

'_I say an elder tree,' _Kai said. _'No no. I say apple tree,' _Kyi countered.

"Give your reasons for that particular tree," Harry said, "Ready set go."

'_The elder tree has several meanings and lore,' _Kai started, '_The celtic meaning for the tree is death, rebirth, renewal, creativity, regeneration, and transformation_.'

'_The apple tree also has celtic meaning,' _Kyi began, '_It is the symbol for love, truth, peace, beauty, honesty, romance, and remembrance. Also they are quite delicious.'_

Harry laughed. _'Thinking with your stomach huh,'_ he joked. Both trees had incredible meanings. Both stood for remembrance, which is what a photo album is meant to be. A token of memories. Harry found he couldn't decide between the two.

Turning back to the letter, Harry wrote:

_As to the project I want you to handle should not be hard at all. I have not yet decided on the image I would like. It has come down to two images. One is an elder tree and the other is an apple tree. You see, I have lost loved ones and this album is in remembrance of their memory. Both trees are symbols of such and both are quite lovely. If you decide to take the project, I will let you decide which of the two to emboss. _

_Thank you for taking time to read. I hope you decide to accept. _

_Sincerely,  
Veles Taliesin_

Once Harry was satisfied with his letter, he folded it up. Gathering the rest of the letters on the desk he handed them to Hedwig. She had remained in the dorm with him rather than return to the owlery. Harry didn't mind. "Those three are for the Dursleys," he told her, "And that one is for Altais Tyl."

After taking the letters, Hedwig flew out of the window. Harry noticed that she had left a small feather behind on the floor. He bent to pick it up. He admired the softness and put it in his pocket.

There was still some time before dinner, so Harry grabbed a few of the books he had bought earlier. Instead of moving them to his desk, he spread them around on his bed and looked at the titles. The book titled _Secrets of the Familiars_ seemed interesting. He grabbed it and began to flip through it.

The book contained information on various types of familiars and their powers. He tried to locate one that matched Hedwig's description but after going through the whole book twice he gave up. "If only the book was in a language I bloody well understood," he yelled. He was about to close the book when he saw the words change.

Picking up to look closer at it, Harry realized that the words on a page had shifted and some of the words were translated into English. He began to read the page. It was titled Proteccíon dun Familiar. Next to it, in smaller letters, it said Protection of a Familiar.

It seemed the book was trying to make reading it much easier. Harry breathed a quick thank you and continued to read.

_Proteccíon dun Familiar is a charm that is cast using something that belongs to the familiar. This object could be a tooth, feather, or fur. As long as it is from the familiar it can be used to cast a very powerful protection spell. Under normal circumstances, this is rarely needed due to the familiar being close by to protect their master. However, if not always around their familiars, it is recommended to create this charm. _

_This charm alerts the person carrying it to any danger that may be present or if any magic is being used against them. As a precaution, a cloaking barrier surrounds the wearer. It will withstand several spells, but it is not infallible. Therefore the person must take other precautions to ensure they are not injured._

Harry let out a whistle. He was impressed. A familiar was supposed to be able to protect their master. Dumbles had intervened, though. Harry was going to make him regret that.

Harry pulled out his wand. He practiced the incantation. When he was ready, he took out Hedwig's feather. It's about 2 inches long and an inch wide. It felt wonderfully soft. He placed it right in front of him on the bed. Touching the point of the wand to the feather, Harry whispered the incantation.

Putting his wand down on the bed, he picked up the feather. He was disappointed when nothing appeared to happen, but he continued to stare at it. Gradually, though, the feather began to change. Slowly, it began to turn silver. The feather was no longer soft and white. Now it was hard and sharp.

Happy that his spell went correctly, Harry was about to place his new charm back into his pocket. He stopped when an idea crossed his mind. "Do you guys know how to make a chain?" he asked his voices.

He felt a hum. "I want a silver chain so that I can attach the feather to it," Harry said breathlessly.

'_Visualize the chain,Harry,' _said his voices, '_We'll do the rest.'_

Harry closed his eyes and imagined a very striking silver chain. Oval and twisted oval links braided and then woven together to make a stunning design.

'_How is that,' _asked Kyi.

Harry opened his eyes to see the chain he had visualized appear on the bed. It was exactly the same and beautiful. He attempts to attach the feather to the chain, but realizes that the feather had loop to string the chain through.

'_Visualize,' _his voices told him, '_You can do it.'_

Harry wrapped his hand around the feather and visualized a loop on it. Opening his eyes and hand to look at the feather, he nearly did a yes dance. He had done it. He strung the chain through and pulled the new necklace on.

He now had a charm that would protect him. Silently thanking Hedwig, Harry set about looking for a spell to make sure nothing and no one besides himself could take the necklace off.

* * *

Altais Tyl paced through his small and secluded house. Things were not going well for him. He was going to be forced to do something soon, and he didn't know if he could. Why couldn't certain people just let him be.

Sighing, he walked to his study. There were many books everywhere. On the floor, in the chair, and on the statues. A mess, but it was his mess and no one would tell him it was not proper. Walking over to the desk along the wall, Tyl took a seat in his chair.

There were new letter again from many people looking for his services. "Nope. Won't do it. Not on your life. Him again? Gah blasted woman," he said as he glanced at the names on the letters.

A name caught his eye. _Veles Taliesin. _He smirked. That name certainly sounded made up but it was clever nonetheless. The names of deities. Intrigued, Tyl opened the letter and read it. He found himself smiling as he read about the images. Whoever this Taliesan was, he certainly had good idea of what could be beautiful.

Curious and willing, Tyl penned a reply and sent it off with an owl. He would like to know more about Veles Taliesin. He moves to pick up Taliesin's letter again and reads it. Soon he becomes lost in his own thoughts. The letter said Taliesin had lost loved ones. Tyl sighed. He too had lost loved one, though not to death. Rather, to something more sinister and wrong.

Breaking free of his thought, Tyl looked up. Turning his head he looked at his reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall opposite of him. He didn't see a man but rather a boy. A boy with white blonde hair that fell to his chin. Small and pointed features made up his face. Skin that was smooth and pale but not deathly so. Everything made him look so young. Everything except his eyes. Grey blue eyes that sometimes looked like silver stared back at him. Those very eyes betrayed just how much he had seen of the world and how no matter how young he looked, he had grown up.

"Veles Taleisin," Tyl whispered and smiled. Yes, he was very curious about him.

* * *

A/N: I would like to dedicate this chapter to wolfish-willow who mentioned in a review that they loved the long chapters. I hope it satisfies. Any reviews would be welcomed and I love reading them. Go ahead and ask questions and I will try to answer without giving alot away. Plus, I love dedicating chapters. oh and if anyone is interested, I will change the cover picture so that you guys can see how the cover of Harry's album looks.


	6. Chapter 6: A Wasted Gift

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. My laptop kept crashing. Needless to say, I had issues with it. Also, this chapter is not as entertaining as the previous. It's more of a setup for the next one. I think the chapters will ultimately get longer as time goes on. So it may be a few days before the next one is up. I will definitely have it up before Friday.  
Disclaimer: I dont, unfortunately, own anything but but the characters I created. J. K. Rowling is the owner and I am not. /sniff/ I'm not gonna cry...

* * *

Several days had passed and Harry found that he very much liked being in Hogwarts with no students around. It made getting around the castle a lot easier. He had grown to love the library and had read so many books in record amount of time. It was the place he had spent most of his time in. In fact, he was in the library reading a book right now.

The professors paid no mind to him, though Remus had opted to stop by every now and then. Harry had tried to approach the topic of Sirius's death, yet the werewolf would make several excuses and either changed the topic or ran away.

Not that Harry blamed him for not wanting to talk about it. Rather, the boy understood that people dealt with grief differently. Besides, he had his voices and Remus was alone so he didn't try to push the man to talk. After learning that the topic of Sirius was taboo, Harry had tried to talk of other things, such as what they would be learning in class. Although the older man would talk excitedly about the new things he had planned, his voice would trail off after a while and he would get lost in his thoughts. Eventually, their talks had dwindled into pleasant, yet distant, conversations.

Harry sighed and closed the book he was reading. He knew the reason why Remus always tried to stop by to chat. The werewolf was not good at being subtle. In every conversation, Remus would ask if there was something Harry wasn't telling him. Harry had been quick to dodge the question without giving much away, though it had been hard sometimes. Subterfuge had never been Harry's forte. He had always been the do first and talk later type of person. Though, lately his voices had begun to engrain the philosophy "think first, act later" into him, with hopes that he could drop his impulsive habits.

He was getting very good at hiding his feelings and employing mannerisms to deflect unwanted conversations and questions. He had mixed feelings about the tactics he used sometimes. Although he realized they were necessary to use when dealing with certain people, he always felt that honesty was the way to go. However, honesty would land him in a heap of trouble with a particular old white haired goat.

Oh how Harry wished he could tell the man what he was thinking and give him a good talking to, but he recognized that it would do him no good and so had learned his new mannerisms.

Harry thought back on the last few days. He had done more than just read and no one was the wiser. His voices had helped him much more than he had thought possible. They had taught him a new spell, one of which he knew by memory and used so often. The spell was called _Swift Eyes_ and it allowed him to read faster than ever before and still understand everything he was reading.

The spell had done wonders for him. He had finally caught up with all the readings he was supposed to read the previous years of school. So many things finally made sense to him. It was amazing. He still hadn't received his books for the coming year, or else he would have read them too. Rather, he had read and reread all the books in the library. All save the ones in the Restricted Section.

While some of the books had been informative, none of them held any of the information Harry was looking for.

The books he had bought were the first to be read thoroughly. He had been practicing with several charms he had learned, as well as making modifications wherever he needed. He had also learned about several types of familiars, though that had served very little purpose since none of it had to do with Hedwig. It seemed that his owl was peculiar and his book of familiars knew nothing about what she was.

He had found several forms of bindings but he wasn't sure if they were the right ones. Harry was going to be sure before he did anything. He would not risk hurting Hedwig in his zeal to remove the binding Dumbles had done. And so Harry researched like crazy.

He had spent all of today looking for a way to narrow down which binding was placed on Hedwig, but he couldn't find it. Harry grabbed the book he had been reading and, with a sigh, stood up to return it to its place on the shelf.

'_Harry you are being silly,' _whispered Kyi.

Harry would have laughed at the softness of the voice, a joke about being in a library and all on the tip of his tongue, but he knew why they whispered. He knew no one else could hear them, but it hadn't prevented others from noticing that something was off about him.

A day ago, he had been reading in the library, completely absorbed in his own little world. Kai had commented loudly about humans twisting facts around. Harry, startled to hear his voice suddenly say something, had jumped and then fell off his seat. Harry had not been amused as his voices laughed. He had been about to say something, when he caught Ms. Pince, the librarian, looking at him oddly. He had cursed softly to himself and had sat down. His voices had, since then, kept their voices down to a whisper for the sake of not drawing any more attention to Harry.

'_Just how, pray tell, am I being silly,'_ Harry asked, returning to his table with another book.

'_You have other means to access all the books you want to read, and you aren't using it,'_ Kai answered.

'_Other means,' _Harry whispered to himself. He could use his cloak to get into the Restricted Section, but he was hoping he wouldn't have to. He wasn't keen on telling Dumbles what he had been looking for if he got caught. He could think of no other way to get access to all the books he wanted.

'_I don't know what you two are referring to. You know that I don't want to use my cloak unless it's an emergency. I don't want Dumbles to learn of my attempts to free Hedwig,' _Harry told them. He felt them hum.

'_Who said anything about using your cloak, Harry" _Kyi whispered, laughing mischievously. This only served to confuse Harry further.

When it seemed that Harry was not going to get it, Kai spoke up, _'There is a room that gives you whatever you need.' _

'_And what is it that you need,'_ drawled Kyi.

Harry gasped. '_Of course,_' he thought. The Room of Requirement. It turned into anything he needed it to be, and if needed, it would show him the library of Hogwarts. All the books in the library would be shown, including those of the Restricted Section.

Harry picked up the book and placed it back onto the shelf. He grabbed his bag and rushed out of the library, and headed toward the seventh floor. He reached the hidden entrance to the secret room and paced three times, thinking of the Hogwarts Library. As an afterthought, he also thought about how he needed to be the only one allowed to enter.

He was relieved when a door appeared along the wall. He took a deep breath and reached for the door. He was about to pull it open when he heard footsteps approaching. Upon turning to look who it was, he saw that it was Remus.

Harry hesitated. As he debated with himself on whether to leave the door closed or to enter the room, Remus drew nearer. That's when Harry noticed the expression the other man was wearing. He'd never seen that expression before and he didn't like it. Before Remus could utter a word, Harry opened the door and walked in.

He let the door close behind him and surveyed the room. It was huge. It was much bigger than the library that, for a moment, Harry thought he may have made a mistake. His eyes skimmed across the titles of some of the books and realized it was, in fact, the Hogwart's Library.

'_This was the way the library was originally created,' _Kai said sadly.

Harry noticed there were so many books that he hadn't read and he was in awe of how magnificent this library was. He ran a hand along the spine of one of the books and asked, "What did they do?"

'_Interesting that you phrase it that way,' _whispered Kyi.

Harry knew that something happened to the books, that much was obvious. He also knew that someone or some people had to be responsible for what happened to the library. How else could someone explain it? It's not like the books walked off and disappeared on their own.

'_You would be surprised by how many books actually move on their own,'_ joked Kai.

"Even if that is true, I sincerely doubt all these books vanished simply because they could," Harry said, a little angry.

'_No, you are right. People did change the library and not for the best,' _responded Kai, much more serious than before.

With a sigh, Kyi began to explain. '_This library was a gift bestowed to your kind. It was believed that with knowledge, humans could learn from their mistakes and create rather than destroy. It was open to all, and not just to the inhabitants of Hogwarts. But the gift was abused. Many people read and learned things to satisfy their own greedy needs. Several of the books began to disappear as people discovered ways to take them without being caught. Other books were used for malice and violence. While not originally used for those purposes, a few tweaks later and there were suddenly very dangerous spells being used. Instead of doing something proactive about it, nothing was done to protect the books from being stolen and misused. Most humans take things for granted. Eventually things got so bad that the Ministry decided that the knowledge of the library was too dangerous and most of the books were burned and destroyed. Bans were placed on certain spells and the dark was labeled as evil. You must understand, Harry, that it wasn't true. Because there were creatures that lived a long time, many of the Ministry officials were scared that the knowledge these creatures had learned from the library would be known to the world.'_

"And so the Ministry branded them dark and whatever was dark was considered evil," Harry finished. He looked around the library again. He could understand how there would be people who would abuse this gift of knowledge and harm others with it. He could understand how that would drive others to believe it was bad and fear it. He could understand it all but he could not condone what they did in the end. These books were offered as a gift and humans were ungracious enough to destroy it.

Harry could think of other ways that could have been avoided if they had simply done something about it sooner. He supposed the Ministry was always looking after their own reputation rather than what was better for the people. He ran a hand across the books again. "How could they do that to them," he whispered sadly. To the creatures and the books.

'_Humans fear what they can't understand. Witches and wizards and not exempt for that simply because they know more. There is still much they don't understand and because they have power that muggles do not, it is not hard to see how they would use it,' _Kai said.

"But it does not give them the right to do it," Harry said angrily. Having Hermione in his ear about the rights of many creatures constantly, he had managed to learn a lot. In truth, Harry hadn't been paying attention to her cause due to other things happening. That did not mean he thought her cause silly or stupid. He knew about the bans and stupid rules the Ministry had placed on many races and creatures. It had appalled him to know how they viewed Remus, simply for being a werewolf.

'_No it doesn't. But don't get angry Harry. All is not what it seems. We have done so much to ensure the safety of many of the races that your kind doesn't know of. We would have done something about the ones you do know of such as the house elves, and certain classes of vampires and werewolves, but if we came to the conclusion that we had to wait,' _Kyi said.

"Why did you do nothing," Harry asked. It had not escaped his mind that they mentioned "classes" of vampires and werewolves, as if there were other types.

'_It isn't that we did nothing. We are doing things, but secretly. We could mount a rebellion and force the people to change those regulations, and it would not be hard at all. We are much stronger than they think us to be. But don't you see that if we did that, nothing would change. Your kind would still fear us and they would use the rebellion to say that we are too powerful and should be stopped and controlled. Our kinds would still be at war and nothing would be achieved. We are older and as such we understand that your kind needs to learn. We have tried to lead you to the solution but your kind is stubborn. We are hoping one day relations between our kinds could improve and reach some semblance of peace,' _Kai answered.

Harry thought about that. It was true that a rebellion would only serve as proof that they were stronger and the Ministry would use that to twist the situation. Balance and peace would never be reached then. Humans had to discover that such a balance is possible and necessary. He could accept that Kyi and Kai had to wait for it to happen, but he had never been so ashamed to be human until he realized what it cost them to do so. They had probably lost many of their own to the ignorance and stupidity of the Ministry.

'_That being said, know this Harry. We can wait and suffer humiliation if it means our kinds can reach peace, but we are not without the capability to hate and the urges for retaliation. Should the Ministry or any of your kind attack our own on the sole basis of what they are rather than what they have done, it is a declaration of war. One that we will answer and have answered before_,' said Kyi firmly.

Harry could almost feel currents of power as Kyi said that. He knew he was conversing with two very powerful individuals and he knew they were not human. He should be afraid but he knew they wouldn't hurt him without reason. Taking a moment to compose his thoughts, he finally asked, "What do you mean attack for the sole reason of what they are?"

'_Take for example, Remus. He may be a wizard but he is also a werewolf. He is a newer type of werewolf that is known to your kind, but there are other older types. We will explain more of that later. For now all you have to know is that he is a werewolf regardless. If the Ministry attacks him and others like him for being werewolves, even though they are innocent, others of his kind will not stand still. The other, and much stronger, types will see it as a declaration of war on their kind. You never want to piss off a werewolf, Harry. It is not pleasant. And the worst offense you can possibly make is to attack one of their own like that," _Kyi said glumly_._

Harry gulped, remembering his own encounter with Remus in his werewolf form. And if there were others far stronger of his kind, Harry could only pray he never offended them. He knew he would be afraid of such creatures, but he would never attack Remus or others for simply being what they are. Especially, if they were innocent. If his kind ever did that, they deserved the devastation a war would create.

'_Enough of that topic, right now you must read,' _Kai chimed in.

Agreeing, Harry pushed all other thoughts aside for the time being. He looked around the library, trying to think of how to start. He could just go through the each shelf, reading the books he hadn't already read, until he made his way through the library. Harry frowned.

He would love to read all the books, but he didn't have time to waste on that. He needed to find something that would help Hedwig. Suddenly, something moved in front of him and he noticed what looked like a podium.

He advanced toward it and looked closely at it. On it was a parchment, quill, and ink. Harry didn't know what it was for. "Do you know what this is for?"

His voices replied, '_Nuh uh. Dunno.'_

The podium had appeared when Harry had thought about needed something to help Hedwig. What he needed were the right books, so maybe this was a way to find the right book.

He picked up the quill and dipped it in ink. Slowly, he began to write _bindings_ on the parchment. The ink on the parchment disappeared, and in its place a long list of books appeared. A very long list. Harry quickly wrote the word _familiars_. Titles started disappearing and only 43 books remained.

"Okay. Let's start with that," Harry said. The list disappeared and books started flying. He would have been fascinated, if it weren't for the fact that they were flying towards him. Harry held out his arms and five books landed on them. He set them down on the table, and waited for the next set of five.

When all 43 books were on the table, Harry smiled. He loved that podium so much. It was so helpful. Harry took a seat and pulled the first book towards him.

'_So there are podiums that act like librarians and computers. Wow,' _Kai mused.

'_You learn something new every day,' _Kyi said.

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled. Opening the book, he quickly cast the Swift Eyes spell.

"Yeah, but I thought you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks," Harry joked. He started laughing when he heard them start barking at him. And with that, Harry got down to work.

* * *

Harry closed the last book of the pile and sat back in his chair. He had taken notes of all the forty-three books and he was pleased with the progress he had made. He now had a detailed idea of how each of the bindings were performed and cast. With this knowledge, he could have Hedwig pinpoint which one Dumbles used. He loved that podium.

Stretching his arms, Harry was startled when he heard a crunching sound. He looked around but saw nothing. He starting stretching again and the crunching resumed. Frowning, Harry looked around in confusion.

'_I got hungry,'_ Kyi said quietly. More crunching sounds were made.

"I can hear you eating…how," Harry asked.

'_I'm touching minds with you. I didn't break that connection when I starting eating, which is why you heard me,'_ Kyi explained, as if that said it all.

"Touching minds? What's that?"

'_It's how we talk to you. A connection is made and through it we can talk in your mind. Normally, most people need to form some sort of physical connection as well but we can do without it. We can do more than talk to you, but we choose to respect your privacy and since we don't have your permission, anything else is highly unethical,' _Kyi said.

"And you are all about being ethical?" Harry questioned.

'_Only with a few. We value your choices and unless otherwise told, we stick to simply talking,'_ his voice responded.

Harry grew curious as to why they treated him like they did, as if he were very important to them. From the moment they started talking to him, Harry could not remember a time where they did anything to him, ask anything of him, or demand anything. They had helped him repeatedly and he wanted to know why.

'_You are important to us. We've grown to know you and care for you. We've also gotten fiercely protective of you,' _Kyi whispered. '_Is that answer not enough?'_

Harry shifted in his seat. He laid his arms on the table and rested his head on them. He thought he could accept that answer for now. After a few moments, he asked, "What else can you do through the connection?"

'_Oh loads,' _Kyi said excitedly. '_We can send you our emotions, which are useful when you need to calm down. We can also allow you to use our power, though we would have to be careful that you don't pass out from the strain. We can see memories, thoughts, and whatever else you know. We prefer to leave that alone. There is also the matter of seeing what you are seeing. It's fun. Like a movie. Only we are in the main character's head and we can't bite the villains.'_

Harry laughed. It certainly sounded like fun. He had always wondered why they always knew what was going on around him.

"So why is it that I can't see what you are seeing and do all that you can do?"

'_Well we were the ones to create the connection so we are, for a lack of a better word, dominants. We can choose what to do through the connection. If you were to touch minds with someone, you could do the same as us. I feel I must point out that we can't make you do anything you don't want to do, even if we wanted.'_

"That's comforting," Harry said. He didn't like the idea of someone making him do things he didn't want to do and even though he was sure they would do nothing to hurt him, he felt reassured that they couldn't even if they wanted to.

Harry heard the crunching sounds begin again. He noticed that when he wanted to focus on them, the sounds would get louder. When he wanted to ignore them, they quieted down to almost a whisper and didn't bother him at all.

"Where is Kai? And what are you eating?"

'_Sleeping and cheetos,' _Kyi said.

Harry laughed. His voices ate cheetos and slept. They sounded so normal sometimes, he could almost forget that they were not human and that they were much older than they sounded.

"Couldn't you wake him," Harry asked.

'_I'd rather not. He gets quite cranky if woken for no reason. How did you know he was a he?'_

"He sounds like a he," Harry answered. "But you I'm not sure about. You sound like a girl sometimes but then there are times you sound like a boy."

As Kyi laughed, Harry was reminded just how much he loved hearing his voices laugh. He had grown so used to having them around that it was becoming habit to hear them laugh.

'_I won't ruin the surprise then,'_ Kyi said.

Harry laughed. Putting his notes in his bag, Harry got up from his chair and moved towards the podium. Unsure of what to say, he settled on, "I'm done with the books." The books on the table started flying once more and were heading towards their place on the shelves.

Moving towards the door, Harry took a last look at the library. He now had a new favorite place in the castle. When he reached the door, he stared at the knob for a long time.

Remus had seen him go inside and by now he had probably told Dumbles about it. He was going to be in trouble, but Harry didn't care. What mattered was that he needed to keep the notes in his bad from being seen. Taking a deep breath, Harry tried not to think of the last expression he had seen on Remus's face. It had scared him.

He reached for the knob and turned it. He heard them before he saw them. Walking through the door, Harry noticed it wasn't just Dumbles and Remus there. Snape and McGonagall were there. He whistled. He didn't know he would have to face this many people.

Calling on all his new skills, Harry was going to play it cool and/or dumb, whichever worked.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, feigning concern.

As the group got closer to Harry, he looked at their faces. Snape looked bored, but he was never sure that man. McGonagall looked concerned for him. Remus wore a solemn and serious expression, which Harry couldn't understand what it meant. Frowning, he turned to Dumbles.

Dumbledore took in his frown and took on a similar look of concern for Harry.

'_He must think I am either afraid I have done something bad or that I don't know what is going on,' _Harry thought. He felt the hum from Kyi. Harry was going to let Dumbles think that way. It would suit his needs just perfectly.

Harry continued to look at their faces with what looked to them like worry. In reality, he was getting impatient since none of them were saying anything. Deciding he was going to have to be the one to break the silence, he said, "Why is everyone waiting for me? Did something happen? Is something wrong?"

The adults looked at each other before turning to stare at Harry again. It seemed they didn't have a clue as to what was going on. Snape looked like he really wanted to be somewhere else. Harry sympathized. He really wanted to be elsewhere too.

"Harry, are you alright," McGonagall asked him.

"Well yes. Why wouldn't I be," Harry told her, acting surprised.

McGonagall looked over to Remus, and Harry followed suit. The older man looked very tired, but there were flecks of anger in his eyes. Harry didn't want to know what the man was thinking if that anger was directed at him. He felt a wave of warmth that calmed him.

"Harry," Remus drawled out his name, almost like it was painful to say. "You saw me earlier and you chose to walk into that room anyway. The door disappeared instantly and I had no way of getting to you. We all tried to do something, but nothing worked."

Harry looked down. There had been an intense emotion laced with Remus's words. Harry didn't know if it was concern or anger. Whichever it was, Harry didn't know how to answer it. Harry gulped before he looked up.

"I just needed some time to be alone. Without any eyes on me. I know you all mean well but I needed a place I could get away from everything," Harry said softly. It wasn't exactly what he had needed but, in a way, it wasn't entirely untrue.

Harry looked Remus in the eye. The werewolf looked right back as if searching for something. Unwilling to break the stare, Harry said, "I'm sorry if I worried you, but I wanted to be alone and no one was to disturb me. Was I wrong to assume I could want that?"

Remus finally closed his eyes and looked away. Dumbledore coughed, so Harry turned his attention towards him, careful not to look him in the eyes.

"It's understandable that you needed time to be alone, but you were there for hours so you could understand that we were concerned something was wrong. Could you tell us what you were doing for so long," Dumbles said.

"Headmaster, does it matter? I was still in the castle, I'm fine, and I didn't do anything bad," Harry said, unable to hide all his impatience.

Dumbledore seemed disturbed by his reaction. With what Harry had said, there was no longer any reason to push the boy to talk. His words were true. He had still been inside the castle and using the Room of Requirement was not against the rules. He was obviously okay.

Harry could almost see the thoughts inside Dumbles's head. He knew the old man no longer had any reason to demand that Harry tell them anything, but he wasn't surprised when the old goat fell back on the card he used most often, manipulating Harry.

"Harry, my boy, we are just really concerned with what happens to you. I know that we are always keeping an eye on you, but you know we don't want a repeat of past events. People have died, and we are just trying to be very cautious. Please be more understanding and cooperative," Dumbledore said softly, as if talking to a child.

Harry didn't appreciate that the old goat was trying to make him feel guilty. His words sounded like he knew all there was to know and Harry should just be a good little boy and listen.

Remus had looked away when the bit about people have died bit was said. Harry could only assume that he was thinking about Sirius. As much as he sympathized with the man, he couldn't bring himself to feel guilty. He hadn't known until then, but Harry had come to terms with Sirius's death and had understood it hadn't really been his fault.

Dumbledore's words, though soft, had been accusations and Harry was not in the mood. He knew he could hang his head, apologize, and lie about his activities. He could easily get through the situation without stirring up trouble and suspicions, but he was NOT in the mood.

Harry hung his head for a moment. Dumbledore, thinking his manipulation was going well, was about to speak again only to be interrupted by Harry lifting his head.

Harry's face was calm and firm. There was no trace of guilt in his eyes. Dumbledore was perplexed. Harry should have been feeling guilty, sad, and angry. The boy showed nothing but calm.

"Tell me what bothers you most, Headmaster. That you were concerned something happened to me or that you didn't know what I was doing? Had I been in the Griffindor tower for the same amount of time, I doubt you would have shown such concern. Makes me wonder if you have eyes there as well," Harry said calmly.

His transfiguration professor had the decency to look away, as she had been one of the many that spied on Harry. Harry didn't know how, but he knew Dumbles would have found a way. Remus's had turned sharply to look at him. Snape had finally begun to be interested in the conversation.

Dumbledore had not said anything. Harry thought maybe he didn't like being talked to that way. Well it was too bad. Harry would not be manipulated anymore. He had had enough.

So before he gave Dumbledore a chance to twist the situation, Harry said, "You have not answered, but no matter. As much as I appreciate your concern, I hope you realize that since I am fine there's nothing left for you to do."

Harry was cut off by McGonagall's gasp. Looking around he saw that his words had not been received well. Remus was scowling, Dumbledore was frowning, Snape was…something, and McGonagall was distressed. All of a sudden they broke off and started talking to each other. Harry heard something that sounded like, "how could he talk to you like that" and "we should just let him be."

Harry sighed. He wanted to end this. He was tired and hungry. It didn't help when he heard Kyi eating and going "nom nom nom." This was a serious situation and his voice was busy eating.

'_You didn't ask for my opinion earlier. I say you just tell them to shove it and head to your room,' _Kyi told him.

'_I thought you were the calm and nice one,'_ Harry thought wryly. His voice laughed. Apparently, Harry had been wrong and Kyi had a mischievous side too.

Deciding to try out Kyi's idea, Harry practically yelled, "Stop."

The four adults stopped talking and turned to look at him. It didn't escape his notice that Dumbles was looking glum and it pleased him.

"I may have spoken out of line but I will not apologize for it. What I said was true. I have done nothing to warrant this," Harry said, gesturing towards them with his hand.

Continuing he said, "Now if you would excuse me, I would like to get to my room."

With that, Harry made a move to get past them. Remus was having none of it. He moved to stand in front of Harry. Just as he was about to reach out and grab him by the shoulder, Harry moved back and avoided the touch.

"I am tired, Remus. Very tired," Harry said softly. He looked the older man in the eyes. The werewolf let his hand fall to his side.

"Some other time, then," Remus said gruffly, stepping aside to allow Harry to pass.

Harry walked by him and continued down the hall in the direction of the tower. He hadn't gotten far when he heard them whispering, and he didn't care. All he wanted was to be in his room. He had more important things to do at the moment, and a few whispering professors were not going to stop him.

* * *

By the time Harry entered his dorm, he felt incredibly tired. He threw himself on the bed. Pulling out his wand from his pocket, he mumbled the Tempus spell. It was nearly ten in the evening. Harry groaned. He had been in the library for almost 7 hours.

He hadn't noticed it at all. He was so focused on helping Hedwig that he had lost all track of time. No wonder he was exhausted and starving. He debated going down to the kitchen, but decided against it. He didn't want to meet anyone on the way there.

Harry got up from his bed and called for Dobby, who appeared immediately.

"You called, Harry Potter sir," the little elf cried excitedly. He was wearing his Hogwarts uniform with an assortment of bells on it. He was also wearing two different colored socks with polka dots on them.

"Yes Dobby. I was hoping you could bring me some food. I don't feel up to going down to eat," Harry said, amused with the elf's outfit.

"Oh I will, I will. I'll give you all the best and yummy foods we made," the Dobby said, bells chiming with his movements. As soon as he said that, the elf disappeared.

Harry didn't have to wait long, before the elf reappeared with two trays of food. The elf placed them on the bed for Harry. Dobby moved back, waiting for Harry to inspect the food. Harry lifted the covers to see one of the trays was filled with treacle tarts and other pastries. The other tray had an entire chicken with sides. He didn't know if he was going to eat all of it but it certainly looked delicious.

Smiling, Harry turned to Dobby and said, "It looks awesome, Dobby. Thank you so much."

The little elf bobbed up and down happily. "Anything to help you, Harry Potter. You've only to ask and I will try," Dobby said emphatically.

Not doubting for a second that the elf was being truthful, Harry merely smiled at the elf. Dobby bowed slightly and disappeared.

'_He's adorable. And he loves you,' _Kyi told him.

"Yes he does," Harry said with a chuckle. He looked at the food Dobby had brought him, and settled down to eat.

He conversed with Kyi while he ate. At some point Kai, a sleepy one, joined the conversation and he was filled in on what he missed.

'_I think you did okay, considering the situation,' _Kai said.

"Yes, but I will have to be careful from now on. My actions will definitely have consequences," Harry said quietly. He felt his voices hum.

'_But you will deal with them when they appear. For now, go on to bed,' _Kyi reassured him.

Feeling sleep catching up to him, Harry quickly moved the trays to the desk. He made his way to the restroom and brushed his teeth. He pulled out his sleeping clothes to change in. Pulling off his shirt, Harry paused. A thought crossed his mind. His voices could see what he saw.

Suddenly feeling shy and embarrassed, Harry didn't know what to do. He was startled when his voices started to laugh at him.

'_We're offended, Harry,' _Kai exclaimed.

'_How could you think us peeking perverts?' _Kyi said within fits of giggles.

'_We don't peek. We full on stare,' _they both chorused, before bursting out laughing again_._

A blush lit Harry's face and reached his ears. He knew they were teasing but it was still embarrassing that they had caught him thinking they were watching him undress.

"You know, you guys remind me of the Weasley twins, Fred and George. They are always making jokes and finishing each other's sentences..." Harry trailed off. He had gotten a strange idea. Could it be that his voices were…twins?

'_I've never heard of this Fred and George. Have you Kai,' _Kyi asked.

'_Nope. Are they peeking perverts too, Harry,' _Kai answered_._

Harry rolled his eyes as his voices resumed his laughing. Either his voices were twins or siblings. They acted the same way the Weasley twins did.

"Are you two twins,"Harry asked unexpectedly.

His voices stopped laughing. At first none of them said anything, and it made Harry uncomfortable to have nothing but his own thoughts in his head. He was getting so used to them always being there.

'_Oh no Kai, he's caught on,' _Kyi said, laughing again_._

'_What gave us away,' _Kai asked Harry.

"The way you two act is the same as the way the Weasley twins act. There is something about the way you two speak that makes one think you must be siblings. And since you two speak like you are around the same age, I assumed the possibility of you being twins was high," Harry sputtered, trying to explain how he reached that conclusion.

'_Yes. We are twins,' _Kai said.

"Does that mean Kyi is a bloke," Harry asked, curious.

'_Not telling. Don't open your mouth Kai or I'll bite you,' _Kyi warned.

'_Sorry Harry, you'll have to find out for yourself,' _Kai said_._

Harry sighed. He closed his eyes and changed his clothes. The entire time, his voices were laughing and claiming they weren't peeking anyway. Harry didn't want to take the chance and even though he was blushing furiously, he didn't open his eyes.

Settling into bed, Harry said his goodnights to his voices. Soon he was drifting off to dream about a library that once existed, a gift that was wasted. A treasure he had discovered after being lost for so long.

* * *

A/N: I will take a moment to thank those that left a review. Thank you HPpureblood, wolfish-willow, Theta-McBride, Saxibelle17, JJanee S, animalluv4life, and Charmedfanforeva. After recieving a review about how my story is hard to read and blah blah blah, you guys were the reason I updated. To all those who love this fic, I want to tell you that I already know how the story will end, but I dont always know how it will get there. For some of those that are hoping for certain things to happen, all I can say is they might or might not. I just write what comes to me. Thanks again.


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